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The Helios from Team MIT is a version of the Atlas robot from Boston Dynamics. MIT
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Designed by members of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, this robot's movements are less human and more primate. NASA
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HUBO is a robot model designed and commercialized by Rainbow Co., founded by alumni from the Seoul-based KAIST Humanoid Robot Research Center (Hubo Lab). DARPA
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This particular THORMANG robot is led and operated by a team hailing from Seoul National University. DARPA
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The other THORMANG's twin; only this one is operated by Seoul-based company ROBOTIS, as well as Korea Tech University and the Korea Robotics Society. DARPA
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THOR-OP is based off a collaborative design spearheaded by Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory at UCLA and the General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Laboratory at UPenn. DARPA
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One of the two Virginia Tech-led teams, Florian is another Atlas robot that's been modified for this competition. DARPA
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The sole team competing from mainland China, the IP-2 is an upgrade from the earlier model that qualified for DRC 2013. DARPA
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A joint effort by teams at Hong Kong University and Case Western Reserve, using the classic Atlas model from Boston Dyanamics. DARPA
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Another Hubo robot--this time operated by a robotics team from the University of Las Vegas. May the best Hubo win! DARPA
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One of the more unique entries, Cog-Burn was created by Grit Robotics and engineers from Colorado Mesa University. DARPA
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There are two HRP2 robots competing in the DRC Finals. This one is led by a team from the University of Tokyo, and is also nearly 10 years old. DARPA
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Another robot fielded by a team from the University of Tokyo.
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A quadruped on wheels, Momaro was conceived at the University of Bonn. DARPA
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Another Atlas robot--this time modified and operated by robotics engineers from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Carnegie Mellon University. DARPA
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An evolution of the COMAN humanoid, WALK-MAN is the only robot hailing from Italy to be selected for the finals. DARPA
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And of course, another Atlas robot, this one operated by Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition. DARPA
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The other robot led by a team from Virginia Tech. ESCHER is a lightweight compared to most of his competition, weighing in at only 60 kg. DARPA
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An Atlas-based robot operated by robotics company TRACLabs Inc. DARPA
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Based off the humanoid STARO developed by the Japanese-based JSK lab. It's one of three finalist teams sponsored by NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization). DARPA
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The other HRP2 robot. This one is operated by Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. DARPA
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Yet another Atlas robot, but this one is operated by a heavy-weight: Lockheed Martin. DARPA
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Though shorter and running on wheels, Tartan's design allows it to move faster and with better precision than many of its counterparts. DARPA
Maybe if we start training robots to save people’s lives now, some of them will collaborate with the post-Skynet human resistance later. That’s not the explicit purpose of the Darpa Robotics Challenge, but if it’s a side benefit, that’d be fine. What the DRC is supposed to do, though, is take the 25 finalists announced today, a group of robots from around the world whittled down over the past three years, and put them through a grueling series of disaster rescue tests. These bots will have to do a lot more than vacuum a floor or pretend to be a loving pet. They’ll have to traverse obstacles, open doors, and even drive a vehicle—all mostly autonomously. The winner gets $2 million (the team of roboticists, not the robot).
Meanwhile, Darpa getting all these robots and their nominal masters together already represents something unprecedented. “It’s the biggest collection of robots in one place that’s ever happened,” says Jonathan Hurst, a roboticist at Oregon State University. “Some people are calling it ‘Robo-Woodstock.'” (Watch out for the brown battery acid.) Hurst specializes in legged locomotion; his lab designed the bipedal ATRIAS robot for the challenge.
The goal of the competition is to push forward autonomous technologies that will help in disaster recovery and search-and-rescue operations, using robots to enter places or assess situations too dangerous for humans. “We’re trying to make this contest more authentic to what a real disaster would be,” said DRC program manager Gill Pratt in a press conference announcing the finalists. Some of the entrants have gone through similar trials already—Boston Dynamics has already tested its bipedal Atlas like this, and in fact several of the finalists used Atlas as a shell for their own hardware. As long as none of those tasks involve crunching human skulls under alloy feet, we’re good.
See the gallery above to learn more about some of the finalists; the competition begins in June.
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