Meet Valkyrie: NASA's New Autonomous Human-Like Robot

by: Dallas Clarke

Susanne Posel
Occupy Corporatism
December 12, 2013

NASA has unveiled the Valkyrie robot, their entry into the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DARPA-RC).

The DARPA-RC is poised to develop robots that will assist in dangerous situations.

Nicolaus Radford, project leader of the NASA JSC Dexterous Robotics Lab (JSC-DRL) said: “We really wanted to design the appearance of this robot to be one that when you saw it you’d say ‘wow, that’s awesome’. Our robot is soft. If you brush against it while you’re working, you don’t want to feel this cold, hard metal. You want it to feel natural, like you’re working next to another human being. The soft goods, the clothes we put on the robot, give it that feel, that appearance of being more comfortable to be near.”

Valkyrie stands about 6 foot 2 inches tall and weighs nearly 280 pounds.

The robot was designed with female characteristics and even has a pronounced chest area that glows just like Iron Man.

This robot can walk autonomously, pick up objects and manipulate tools.

NASA expects that Valkyrie will be able to be used in space exploration; as well as disaster events, breaking through walls and even driving a car.

Robots who can replace humans in menial tasks is a purpose of the DARPA-RC.

Valkyrie’s arms are interchangeable and can be replaced in minutes.

As part of the DARPA-RC, the RoboSimian, which is still under construction, is being touted as the winner of the competition because of its design.

RoboSimian will be able to walk on its four hands, command precise actions and function as anchors if needed.

JPL and Stanford combined forces to “build a simian-inspired limbed robot” that has the ability to use “deliberate and stable operations to complete challenging tasks under supervised tele-operation while in a degraded human environment.”

DARPA has also unveiled Atlas, a humanoid robot that stands over 6 feet tall and weighs 290 pounds, being called “one of the most advanced humanoid robots ever built.”

Atlas was created by Boston Dynamics, INC, (BD) with funding from DARPA.

DARPA awarded Boston Dynamics, Inc. a $10.9 million contract to manufacture humanoid robots that are bi-pedal, built like humans and have a sensor head with on-board computing capabilities. Completion of the project is expected for August of 2014.

This robot “is a high mobility, humanoid robot designed to negotiate outdoor, rough terrain. Atlas can walk as a bipedal leaving the upper limbs free to lift, carry, and manipulate the environment. In extremely challenging terrain, Atlas is strong and coordinated enough to climb using hands and feet, to pick its way through congested spaces.”

Built like a human, Atlas has “sensate hands will enable Atlas to use tools designed for human use. Atlas includes 28 hydraulically-actuated degrees of freedom, two hands, arms, legs, feet and a torso. An articulated sensor head includes stereo cameras and a laser range finder. Atlas is powered from an off-board, electric power supply via a flexible tether.”

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