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DARPA's advanced prosthetics give bomb disposal robot a delicate touch
A new bomb disposal robot developed at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) is blurring the line between advanced prosthetics and robotics. Rather than building arms and hands from scratch specifically for the robot, the Bimanual Dexterous Robotics Platform (BDRP) is equipped with artificial limbs designed for amputees. The combination is relatively unique, and provided the team with a secondary use for the Modular Prosthetic Limb (MPL) it developed for the DARPA Revolutionizing Prosthetics program.
The BDRP (aka Robo Sally) has always been equipped with a pair of cameras for a head and prosthetic arms, but it has gone through a number of changes since it was first unveiled in 2008. Originally balancing on a Segway-like mobile platform with just two wheels, it now motors around on four wheels to better tackle uneven terrain. The bulk of its electronics have also been moved to the back seat, considerably slimming its figure.
Altogether the robot has 42 degrees of freedom, with three in the neck, three in the torso, two in the mobile platform, and the rest located in its pair of prosthetic arms and hands, which sport 17 apiece. Thanks to its scalability, the MPL can contain fewer moving parts than the version for amputees (which has a total of 25), making it less expensive to replace in the event an inspection goes boom.
Ultimate control for better safety
The robot is controlled by multiple people, with one operator driving it around while another teleoperates its arms and hands with a special glove. The glove contains sensors which provide an incredible degree of near real-time control. This includes the movement of individual finger joints, which gives the operator the ability to interact with a wide variety of objects with minimal effort.
When combined with a stereoscopic visor that relays the robot's point of view, the set-up provides an unprecedented level of control that could make all the difference between a successful or failed mission. Currently there doesn't appear to be any tactile feedback in the glove, resulting in some fumbling, but it's still a marked improvement over the simple gripper arms of previous inspection robots.
In mock scenarios, the operators delicately uncovered an improvised explosive device (IED) from a canvas sack, drove across varied terrain to secure a perimeter, and stopped a vehicle at a checkpoint, even inspecting the driver's ID card. However, one of the more interesting scenarios of opening a lock box in the back of a truck was made significantly easier for them by having the vehicle's doors and the box itself already unlocked and open.
The BDRP's impressive capabilities make it a shoe-in for DARPA's Mobile Manipulation program, and could save lives if it's ever put to real work. Furthermore, it gives us an idea of what to expect from the upcomingDARPA Robotics Challenge, which will be capped off with a similar demonstration. However, the robots competing in that challenge won't have the benefit of the MPL, so it will be interesting to see how their arms and hands stack up to it.
You can watch the BDRP in action in the following video, followed by a second video demonstrating the incredible accuracy of the MPL.
Source: John Hopkins APL via Gizmodo
Source: http://www.gizmag.com/darpa-advanced-prosthetics-bomb-disposal-robot/27975/
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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