DARPA’s $3.5 million international robot competition wraps this summer

This June, robotics teams from around the world will meet to compete for $3.5 million in prize money at the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC). The event, to be held in Pamona, California will test the capabilities of robots designed to provide assistance in natural or man-made disasters.

A total of 14 teams from Japan, the People’s Republic of China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Germany, Italy and the United States have recently been added to a list of 11 previously announced teams, bringing the total to 25.

“We’re excited to see so much international interest in the DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals. The diverse participation indicates not only a general interest in robotics, but also the priority many governments are placing on furthering robotic technology. As this technology becomes increasingly global, cooperating with the United States in areas where there is mutual concern, such as disaster response and homeland security, stands to benefit every country involved,” said Gill Pratt, program manager for the DRC in a statement.

As robotics technology advances, using them for disaster response and other hazardous duty seems to many like a good place to start. Machines that have demonstrated an ability to respond to those types of events can potentially save the lives of victims and relief workers alike and once they’ve mastered the tasks involved the same designs can be repurposed for other activities.

“We’re looking forward to seeing how the teams ensure the robustness of their robots against falls, strategically manage battery power, and build enough partial autonomy into the robots to complete the challenge tasks despite DARPA deliberately degrading the communication links between robots and operators,” said Pratt.

In order to qualify for the DRC finals, each of the new teams was required to submit video which showed their robot completing disaster relief related tasks. These activities included locomotion and getting back up from a prone position, as well as clearing obstacles and operating simple machine controls such as buttons and valves.

Some of the teams built their robots from the ground up, while others reprogrammed existing models for the tasks.

“There will be roughly 15 different commercial and custom physical robot forms demonstrated at the DRC Finals. Although seven teams will use the upgraded Atlas robot from Boston Dynamics, it’s each team’s unique software, user interface, and strategy that will distinguish them and push the technology forward,” said Pratt.

According to Live Science, for this year’s competition, each of the robots will drive a vehicle to a simulated disaster site and then walk 30 feet over a field of debris. Once they reach their destination they will need to perform disaster relief operations. These include rotating a valve, connecting wires, cutting through a wall and climbing stairs before exiting the site.

A surprise task is also going to be included in the final according to Pratt.

Each task will earn points for the team and, in the event of a tie the team with the best time will win. Each team has a maximum of one hour to complete all of the tasks.