High-Powered Arms and Hydraulically Autonomous Mobile Humanoids for Urban Operations and Exploration
Abstract
,High-Powered Arms and Hydraulically Autonomous Mobile Humanoids for Urban Operations and ExplorationAgency Program Officer: Dr. Thom,as McKenna, Code Division 3411.Publicly Releasable Project Summary/AbstractWe propose to purchase the Nadia High-Powered Arms and,Humanoid Hydraulic Power Unit from Boardwalk Robotics, Inc. This system will be installed as an upgrade to our existing Nadia plat,form. It will enable research not otherwise possible using existing equipment at the University of West Florida, focusing on highly,dynamic motions, advanced mobility such as crawling, manipulation, and fall survival and self-righting, which are all extremely pert,inent to the DoD.The development of humanoid robots with human-level capabilities is extremely relevant to the mission of the DoD. H,umanoids can function as first responders in disasters, explosive ordnance technicians, active surveillance tools, and squad members, in urban operations. To develop these capabilities, however, requires significant research and development into mobility, manipulat,ion, teaming, and control. This research will be enabled with this DURIP by purchasing the High-Powered Arms and HPU, increasing the, strength and capability of the existing Nadia robot.Both of these systems will be installed into the Nadia Next Generation Humanoid, Robot, which was co-developed by Boardwalk Robotics, Inc. and the Florida Institute of Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC), and is a,vailable to multiple researchers at the University of West Florida (UWF) and IHMC. The Nadia humanoid can be used for research in a,wide variety of applications beyond enhanced mobility, including perception, localization, manipulation, and human machine teaming.,By improving its capabilities, new avenues of research for UWF will be made possible, enabling and supporting future projects and gr,ants that are inherently multidisciplinary by nature. It will also enable hands on learning and research opportunities for students,bot is featured as an integral part of the new UWF Intelligent Systems and Robotics (ISR) Doctoral program. By increasing the robot,s capabilities through stronger, faster arms and an integrated HPU, new, cutting edge research will be enabled, helping define the U,niversity of West Florida as an international leader in the development of scientists and roboticists and the preeminent leader in l,egged robotics research, with a direct eye towards fielding robots that are important for DoD missions.The improvement of the Nadia,Next Generation Humanoid Robot will not only enable potential research capabilities, but will be used to directly enhance existing D,oD funded projects, including the Office of Naval Research projects being conducted by IHMC High Speed Humanoid Robot Behaviors for, Urban Operation N00014-19-1-2023 and contract SquadBot: High Performance Humanoid Robot for Urban Operations N0014-19-C-2009 and, the IHMC-NASA Cooperative Agreement 80NSSC18M0071 in support of NASA / DoD Interagency Agreement N4175617GTCOG204 Mobility and Pla,nning Algorithms for NASA JSC Valkyrie Robot. While these projects are under IHMC, they currently support two UWF ISR faculty and f,our UWF ISR PhD students. Additional students are also being recruited for the ISR program on these projects. Additionally, the Nadi,a Next Generation Humanoid Robot is being featured heavily in UWF funding pursuits. The enhanced capability enabled by this DURIP wi,ll broaden the research possible, increasing funding possibilities and research directions that will support the development and edu,cation of the next generation of scientists and roboticists.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2022
- Source ID
- N000142212327
Entities
People
- Robert G. Griffin
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of West Florida