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NASA needs robotic upgrades for work on Mars
After not faring well in the DARPA Robotics Challenge, NASA is hoping its Valkyrie humanoid robot will do much better working on Mars.
The space agency has given two robotic prototypes to scientists at MIT and Northeastern University to build software and put together hardware adjustments that will make the robots autonomous and dexterous enough to aid human astronauts or even take their place on "extreme space" missions.
"Advances in robotics, including human-robotic collaboration, are critical to developing the capabilities required for our journey to Mars," said Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator for NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate. "We are excited to engage these university research groups to help NASA with this next big step in robotics technology development."
The robots are expected to launch into space to work on asteroids or Mars as precursors to human missions, setting up habitats, producing drinkable water and fuel to get the astronauts back home again. NASA also expects to use robots as human assistants, collaborating on projects, using tools and taking over more dangerous projects.
NASA's Valkyrie robot participated in the DARPA Robotics Challenge, acompetition designed to get roboticists from around the world working on humanoid robots that could be used to assist after disasters. The idea was to have a robot that could go into a damaged building or a dangerous area instead of sending humans into such hazardous conditions. In the competition, the robot was required to climb stairs, opening doors, turning off valves and search for victims
Many of the robots did well, walking over rubble, driving and getting out of a car and drilling holes in walls.
Others, like NASA's Valkyrie, didn't do nearly as well. They were unable to climb stairs and ladders and took several minutes to take one step. Some simply fell over. The Valkyrie didn't make it to the final round of competition.
DARPA and robotics scientists said there is still work to be done, but they have made great headway into building autonomous robots that can perform basic tasks on their own.
In five or 10 years, they expect robots to be ready to help in disaster situations.
Of the teams that competed in the DARPA challenge, NASA chose MIT, whose team placed sixth in the competition, to work on the robotic space project. Northeastern didn't compete, but its robotics group is now headed by Taskin Padir, who led the seventh-place team from Worcester Polytechnic Instituteduring the DARPA competition.
Both MIT and Northeastern will receive up to $250,000 a year for two years and will have access to onsite and virtual technical support from NASA. Both university teams will also participate in its upcoming Space Robotics Challenge.
This new competition, while creating opportunities to benefit the robotics industry as a whole, will focus on creating the robotics technology needed to launch Mars missions.
At this point, with MIT and Northeastern involved, NASA is focused on upgrading the robot. In 2016, the competition will move on to a competition among teams that have built software for a simulated robotic situation. After that, there will be a physical competition.
Source: http://www.computerworld.com/article/3007393/robotics/nasa-needs-robotic-upgrades-for-work-on-mars.html
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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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