Computer Animation Arts

Hello everyone, Daniel Rolph here; I'm your author-in-residence this week.  For those of you who don't know me, I'm one of the ex-3rd years who graduated this summer. My posts will probably have a higher science content than you might expect, but I'll do my best to make sure they're still interesting; on that note, on to the main feature! Following on from the success of their Driverless Vehicle competitions, DARPA (the American Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency) have moved on to more "traditional" robotics, with their DARPA Robotics Challenge - the goal is to produce a "rescue robot" for use in disaster-rescue operations. Every robot entered into the competition has to be able to:- Drive a truck to the disaster area Cross rubble on its own Clear debris from a door and make its way inside Climb ladders Use a tool to smash through a concrete wall Close a valve near a leaking pipe Use a firehose to extinguish a fire The...

Mostly as an advert for Intel, unfortunately, so the video is rather cluttered Still, it's a pretty impressive machine