NASA Unveils ‘Valkyrie’ Robot for DARPA Competition

December 13th, 2013

Via: IEEE Spectrum:

Valkyrie (officially designated “R5” by NASA) is a 1.9 meter tall, 125 kilogram, 44 degree of freedom, battery-powered humanoid robot. A team from NASA’s JSC in Houston, in partnership with the University of Texas and Texas A&M and with funding from the state of Texas itself, built the robot for the DRC, which will hold a preliminary competition later this month.

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The challenge created by DARPA involves tasks like walking over uneven terrain, climbing a ladder, using tools, and driving. This means that Valkyrie has to be capable of operating in the same spaces that a person would operate in, under the control of humans who have only minimal training with robots, which is why the robot’s design is based on a human form. The overall goal of the DRC is to help drive innovation towards robots that are able to take over from humans directly, without needing any special accommodations. In that context, a human form makes sense because we’re humans, and these robots will be doing the jobs that we don’t want to be doing because they’re too dangerous.

Posted in Rise of the Machines, Space, Technology, War | Top Of Page

3 Responses to “NASA Unveils ‘Valkyrie’ Robot for DARPA Competition”

  1. anothershamus says:
    December 13, 2013 at 8:07 am

    Ozzy has something to say about this robot:
    http://youtu.be/FrUmO8PeLEA

  2. steve holmes says:
    December 15, 2013 at 4:51 am

    Followed by a rousing round of Ozzy singing War Pigs.

  3. steve holmes says:
    December 15, 2013 at 4:56 am

    “Commerce is our goal here at Tyrell. More human than human is our goal.”
    Well we all know that ended without a sequel….

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