Japan’s Schaft has all the right stuff at DARPA robot trials

Shaft’s humanoid robotic prowls through lengthy grass. What are Google’s plans for it? It should look like a clunky Asimov prototype from twenty years ago. However, a humanoid rescue robotic built by Japanese university graduates overwhelmed the competitors at a prestigious Pentagon-subsidized robotics event over the weekend.

Tokyo-primarily based Shaft received the day, scoring 27 out of 32 possible points within the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC), a series of trials for robots designed to aid in disaster reduction efforts comparable to nuclear plant accidents.

The victory is ironic for Japan. Despite the U. S.’s robotics prowess, it had no robots to help with the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant meltdown in 2011, the kind of emergency the DRC is attempting to tackle.

IHMC Robotics, primarily based in Florida, grabbed a 2d position in the DARPA Robotics Challenge at Abode Miami Speedway in Florida. Carnegie Mellon College’s team Tartan Rescue positioned 1/3.

Eight of the top groups that participated in the challenge may obtain as much as $1 million in funding from the Safeguard Evolved Research Initiatives Agency, which develops expertise for the U.S. militia, before further trials next year with a $2 million prize.

A spinoff from the College of Tokyo, staff Shaft is led via Auto Nakanishi, identified for his work on Cairo, a musculoskeletal humanoid below development, seeing that 2007 at the university’s JSK Robotics Laboratory.

The 5-foot-tall, 209-pound bipedal Shaft brought stable walking and demanding torque power to the DARPA trials, which integrated challenges reminiscent of opening doorways, welding hoses, and slicing away part of a wall.

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Crew Shaft lost points when a gust of wind was once ready to blow a door out of the robotics’ hand. Also, the robot used to be unable to exit a car after efficiently navigating a predetermined route.

The Shaft is one of a handful of robotics companies that Google has picked up lately. That workforce also contains Boston Dynamics, the maker of the terrifying Big Dog, and different animal-impressed defense force machines. Google’s plans for robotic technology have not been disclosed.

DARPA Robotics challenge chief Gill Pratt praised crew Shaft’s initiative. Once DARPA officers visited the crew in Japan the next year, it had already constructed three prototype robots for the competitors.