NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) has finally revealed its submission for the DARPA robotics challenge (DRC); and their model is remarkably humanoid.
The robot, dubbed Valkyrie, stands over six feet tall and weighs around 275 pounds and was described as a "freedom, battery-powered humanoid robot," IEE Spectrum reported.
The DRC is pushing for user-friendly humanoid robots that can perform tasks that are dangerous for humans.
Valkyrie will be entered into DRC's preliminary competition at the end of the month. The challenges will include having the robot perform advanced tasks such as climbing a ladder, manipulating tools, and even driving. The researchers have high hopes for the tall robot.
"Valkyrie has seven degree of freedom arms with actuated wrists and hands, each with three fingers and a thumb. It has a head that can tilt and swivel, a waist that can rotate, and six degree of freedom legs complete with feet equipped with six-axis force-torque sensors," IEE Spectrum reported.
The robot can move around freely for about an hour, powered by a changeable battery located in Valkyrie's backpack.
The final goal for Valkyrie is advanced autonomy, but for this month's DRC challenge the robot will require "human teleoperation as well as assistive autonomy."
NASA's JSC based Valkyrie in part on a humanoid robotic torso, called Robonaut, that they have been working on for some time.
"When we were thinking about the DARPA Robotics Challenge, we were really leveraging a lot of the knowledge and technology that has been developed throughout the years with Robonaut," NASA JSC team leader Nicolaus Radford told IEE Spectrum.
The team hopes Valkyrie will perform well in the upcoming competition and will go on to do great things.
"If it's worth doing, it's worth doing cool," Radford said. "[Valkyrie] has a little bit of a superhero feel to it, because honestly, that's what DARPA's requesting: they want a superhero robot."
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