The emergency response robot developed by NASA has been named as “RoboSimian” due to its resemblance with an ape. This robot has the ability to pick and manipulate objects during disastrous situations. This headless robot has been designed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA. The robot has four indistinguishable limbs that have the ability to perform as both arm as well as legs apart from the seven cameras, which can act as the eyes of the robot. RoboSimian has been equipped to run on any kind of surface due to the presence of wheels making the entire movement smooth. NASA scientists have designed another robot called a Surrogate from the spare parts of the RoboSimian. Surrogate is more of a traditional robot that is capable of running on tracks but was not capable enough to handle complication areas that are common in disasters. According to the researchers Disaster relief robots are meant to gain access in any kind of environment which are limitations to rescue workers, police and army apart from carrying out tasks like turning off a valve and lifting of the debris. The RoboSimian will be able to explore low-gravity bodies, maintenance and assembly orbital structures such as moons and comets, exploring the cliffs and caves on the moon and Mars. Supervisor, Brett Kennedy from Robotic Vehicles and Manipulators Group of JPL highlighted that stable, durable and premeditated approaches matche the technical strengths possessed by the robots. This provides a model for testing different critical elements of the ecosystem. They are expecting that robots will be used disaster scenarios anytime soon.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is one of the well known research organization pertaining to their robotics. The robots are used for space exploration like carrying out missions on Mars and Moon. But when it comes to the DARPA Robotics Challenge, JPL group can consider this as an open opportunity with their new ideas and robotics research and techniques. The organization can be approached directly by any interested teams.
RoboSimian Testing
Robots of the future will resemble or look more or less like humans who will be able to carry out tasks with the help of a pair of arms, grab things and walk with the help of robotic limbs. NSA at the JPL is working on developing different types of robots that will be able to lend helping hand in disasters or emergency responses. RoboSimian from JPL became the last entrant in the Robotics Challenge of DARPA. Robotics Challenge of DARPA is a 27 month long competition meant for individuals and the world’s top organization to display their techniques, skills and features of their robots. During this challenge every robot is tested for their emergency response skills, climate and nuclear disaster ability, climbing ability, tool usage without human support of control. Robots are tested for the challenge based on their strength, artificial intelligence and skills. The prize money for the winner of the challenge is $2 million.
