Canadian robot maker Clearpath Robotics recently provided The University of Coimbra’s Institute of Systems and Robotics with a mobile robotic base as part of a grant program, and the Portuguese researchers put it to good use, converting the platform into a minesweeping robot. “Minesweeping is an extremely dangerous and time-intensive process,” Lino Marques, academic liaison
The Hunter Unmanned Aircraft System was thought to be nearing the end of its life last year when the Department of Defense awarded Northrop Grumman a $37.2 million contract modification to supply logistics and engineering support through Jan. 14, 2014 (today). Now it seems the stay of execution has been extended another year, as the
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Defense release its latest roadmap for the future of unmanned systems, which covers the next 25 years. The report to Congress, which is updated biannually, is intended to offer a vision for the continued integration of unmanned systems into the DoD. The report covers air, ground and maritime
After leading throughout the competition, Schaft, the Japanese robotics start-up recently purchased by Google, was officially crowned winner of the DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials when they ended on Saturday. Schaft has only been around since 2012, when it spun out of the JSK Laboratory at the University of Tokyo, but it thoroughly dominated the DRC
[ UPDATED: The DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials have ended, with the robot from Schaft Inc. taking the title. Hours of archived coverage of the event are available here. ] To watch the DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials live from Florida’s Homestead Miami Speedway, click the following link for a YouTube stream: DARPA Robotics Challenge Live Broadcast
On April 1, 2012, plans were first announced for the DARPA Robotics Challenge, and after more than a year of anticipation, the robot competitors will finally be put through their paces starting tomorrow. The two-day event, which takes place Dec. 20-21 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., is actually the second stage of the
All unmanned aerial vehicles have a futuristic feel to them, but if you want something that looks like it came straight out of a science fiction film, you can’t beat a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft. The AirMule, an unmanned VTOL developed by Israeli company Tactical Robotics, certainly fits that bill, and it recently achieved
The next round of the DARPA Robotics Challenge is just a week away, and we’ve started to see a lot more of the robots that will be competing. NASA finally gave a glimpse of its entry earlier this week, and Carnegie Mellon University just released a variety a photos and videos of its robot, known
MRIGlobal reported yesterday that it has completed work on a robotic mannequin and containment chamber to test protective equipment for the U.S. Department of Defense. When fully implemented, the system will make it possible test the effectiveness of protective military clothing when exposed to dangerous chemicals. The five-year “Individual Protection Ensemble Mannequin System” (IPEMS) project
The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory reported today that it launched an all-electric, fuel cell-powered unmanned aerial system from a submerged submarine. The “eXperimental Fuel Cell Unmanned Aerial System,” or XFC UAS, was fired from the torpedo tube of the USS Providence using a “Sea Robin” launch vehicle system. The Sea Robin launch system was designed to fit
