Last week, DARPA and Boston Dynamics unveiled Atlas, the humanoid robot that seven lucky teams won the right to program for the DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials in December. They will be competing against a group of teams that created their own search-and-rescue robots, which remain shrouded in considerably more mystery. As we near the competition,
In the first stage of the DARPA Robotics Challenge, which we reported on here, contestants were asked to demonstrate that they could navigate a virtual robot through a variety of simulated challenges. The winners received the honor of moving to the next round with a real robot provided by DARPA to compete for a spot
As debate about the proper role of humans in the cockpit swirls in the wake of Saturday’s Asiana Airlines plane crash, the Navy achieved an important milestone by completing its first-ever carrier-based arrested landing. The feat was accomplished on board the USS George H.W. Bush off the coast of Virginia earlier today. According to the
When Congress passed the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, it set the clock ticking toward the day when unmanned aircraft systems must be integrated into the national airspace. The target is Sept. 30, 2015, now just a little more than two years away. That fast-approaching deadline has created a new intensity in discussions
The U.S. military has increasingly turned to unmanned systems in recent years, which is naturally reflected by a larger and larger portion of total military spending going toward acquiring the systems. However, following the U.S. fiscal crisis, the Department of Defense has made it a priority to rein in these costs where it can. One
If robotics has anything close to a Super Bowl, it’s probably the DARPA Robotics Challenge, which launched last year and will conclude in December 2014 with teams competing for a $2 million prize. The goal of the competition is to develop a robot that can provide meaningful assistance in disaster relief efforts. Sticking with the
Unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as unmanned aircraft systems to the U.S. Department of Defense and drones to most of the general public, are perhaps the most visible example of how far robotics has come in a relatively short period. Although primitive examples of UAS were used by the military as early as World War
Hello and welcome to The Business of Robotics! If you have even a passing interest in robotics, you know the field is exploding, having reached a technological tipping point that is bringing self-driving cars and robot co-workers out of the realm of science fiction and into reality. Just last week, a new $100 million dollar
