DARPA Robotics Challenge is the next grand challenge that’s really getting most of the robotics community on their toes. The goal of this program is to develop ground robots that are able to operate in degraded human-engineered environments performing complex task such as opening a valve, climb a ladder or even drive a car. This is in response to the difficulties faced by robots deployed during the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear incident. That revealed a lot about the current capabilities of the robots in the market today. It’s not that the robots are incapable but it’s a matter about using the wrong tool for the job.

Team Steel, led by Christopher Atkeson, is one of the two CMU teams taking part in the DARPA Robotics Challenge. They have selected to take part in Track B (using a DARPA-provided robot, the PETMAN) while their counterparts (TARTAN RESCUE, lead by Tony Stentz) have chosen to take part in track A where members of that team will develop a robot of their own.

They have worked on the Sarcos Humanoid Robot, a robot similar to the PETMAN. They will implement some learning methods and interesting techniques for their robot. This will definitely be beneficial to the other team given CMU has fielded 2 teams in this competition.

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