Photo: Carnegie Mellon University & Oregon State University
At the beginning of May, DARPA announced the eight finalist teams whose robots will duke it out in September at the Louisville Mega Cavern in what is known as the SubT Challenge (Subterranean Challenge). One of these robots is called Explorer.
The SubT Challenge kicked off three years ago as a means to come up with the technology that would allow remote mapping, navigation and search of underground environments. The goal is to eventually come up with a robotic system that could make its way in the dark, damp surroundings either in search and rescue operations, or as part of a military force meant to take the enemy off guard.
Explorer is one of the robot systems that so far managed to impress DARPA’s higher-ups. It has been developed by the Carnegie Mellon University and the Oregon State University with funding from DARPA itself, and it is a ground vehicle packing some serious hardware.
The thing, described as a reconfigurable multi-modal platform, is packed with LiDAR, 3D cameras and imaging cameras to allow it to move underground, in places where humans would have problems performing their duties.
The team says it envisioned it as a tool for providing situational awareness for its operator, to be used mostly for search and rescue, remote scouting, and forensic analysis.
Explorer already proved its worth over these past few years in the previous DARPA events, the last of which took place in November last year. In the fall of 2021 though, it will have to fight the likes of CERBERUS in being the fastest to find planted backpacks, cell phones, and even trapped survivors in one of the largest caverns in the U.S.
If it manages to finish the course faster than the others, Explorer and its team will be awarded a $2 million prize.
Explorer is one of the robot systems that so far managed to impress DARPA’s higher-ups. It has been developed by the Carnegie Mellon University and the Oregon State University with funding from DARPA itself, and it is a ground vehicle packing some serious hardware.
The thing, described as a reconfigurable multi-modal platform, is packed with LiDAR, 3D cameras and imaging cameras to allow it to move underground, in places where humans would have problems performing their duties.
The team says it envisioned it as a tool for providing situational awareness for its operator, to be used mostly for search and rescue, remote scouting, and forensic analysis.
Explorer already proved its worth over these past few years in the previous DARPA events, the last of which took place in November last year. In the fall of 2021 though, it will have to fight the likes of CERBERUS in being the fastest to find planted backpacks, cell phones, and even trapped survivors in one of the largest caverns in the U.S.
If it manages to finish the course faster than the others, Explorer and its team will be awarded a $2 million prize.
Google News