THE DARPA ROBOTICS CHALLENGE
The DARPA Robotics Challenge was announced in December of 2012. Seven teams from around the world were chosen from numerous applicants in order to compete. The overall goal of the competition is to create a semi-autonomous robot capable of responding to a disaster scenario such as that of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. The competition itself is split up into a specific set of tasks that each robot must perform.
- Drive a vehicle to a mock disaster site.
- Clear rubble from in front of a doorway and enter the door.
- Repair a leaking gas pipe.
- Climb a ladder.
- Break through a wall using a provided impact device.
THOR ( Tactical Hazardous Operations Robot )
Our contribution to the DARPA Robotics Challenge will be two humanoid platforms THOR and THOR-OP. Each will have varying degrees of autonomy and an intuitive operator control interface.
Platform THOR
- Lightweight, 1.6 (m) tall, 34 DOF
- Custom designed series elastic actuators and motor controllers.
- Human-like range of motion.
- Untethered operation.


