darpa

Scientists at Vanderbilt University have adapted a miniaturized rocket motor from space to power a stronger, faster prosthetic arm here on Earth.

Actually, the power is generated by what amounts to an advanced steam engine. It contains hydrogen peroxide and a catalyst that causes it to burn at 450 fahrenheit, producing steam. NASA uses the same principle to scoot the space shuttle around in orbit.

It's "roughly the size of a pencil" and provides enough energy to operate the prosthetic for up to 18 hours. The prototype arm also weighs less because the motor eliminates the need … Read more

Here's that final touch you've been looking for in the kitchen remodel war with the Joneses: efficient fiber optics (EFO), the "breakthrough in accent lighting technology," could be perfect for your undercounter needs.

You want green? This is the most efficient fiber optic lighting system in the world, according to developer Solon, Ohio based Energy Focus. "One 70 watt EFO lamp delivers the center beam candlepower of eight 50 watt Halogen lamps - replacing a total of 400 watts." The government agrees--it handed out $12.7 million in R&D support and awarded … Read more

Less than three months from its qualifying race, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency announced Thursday the 36 semifinalists that will compete in the Urban Grand Challenge, a robot race over mock city streets with a $3.5 million purse. The semifinalists have been whittled down from 89 original contestants.

DARPA also said that the qualifying and final events will be held at a military training facility in Victorville, Calif., home of the Route 66 Museum, the San Bernardino County Fair and a state penitentiary. The Urban Grand Challenge is the third in DARPA's series of robot car races … Read more

The U.K. Ministry of Defense announced Monday that 14 of the 23 teams who applied have made it to the finals of its Grand Challenge.

The MOD Grand Challenge is a competition of robots similar to the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Grand Challenge. The finalist teams range from universities to military contractors.

Coincidentally, both the U.S. DARPA Grand Challenge this November 3 and the U.K. MOD Grand Challenge this August 2008 will focus on the urban setting.

However, while the DARPA-sponsored challenge focuses on the autonomous vehicle, the MOD-sponsored challenge concentrates on the … Read more

Robots might not be fighting wars by themselves yet, but they're doing their part among the support ranks in the battlefied. As equipment such as pocket-sized spy bots become increasingly common, other types of mobile equipment aren't far behind.

DARPA's "LANdroid" prototype, for instance, is a wireless network router mounted on treads that looks like a tiny tank. Like the ultra-portable spy bots, the palm-sized device is designed to be dropped by Army troops in the field, then autonomously find the best spot to station itself as a network hub, according to OhGizmo.

It's … Read more

Where can you find some primo vintage desert footwear, a discussion of probability algorithms, and a solar-powered robotics operation? Why, it's Crave's slideshow of 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge entrants!

DARPA's 2005 Grand Challenge was a 132-mile Nevada desert race of autonomous vehicles. This year's Challenge is focused on urban operations--navigating a four-way intersection, performing pretty involved street driving moves--all without a human operator. How much time, manpower, equipment, research and programming does it take to teach a car how to drive itself? Read the story.

Seriously though, check out the boots on that dude from the … Read more

If you can imagine a plane that can stay in flight for years at a time and refuel itself autonomously, then you're thinking like a government agent (or at least a science fiction writer).

Last week, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the research and development arm of the U.S. Department of Defense, began soliciting bids from the private sector to design a plane that can remain aloft for five years with a 99 percent probability.

Called the Vulture Air Vehicle Program, possibly after the vulture's ability to sail on thermal streams, the project "will … Read more

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) said Friday that it has whittled down the contestants for its upcoming urban robot race from 89 to 53 teams via qualification events. Among the 53 teams are the Stanford Racing team (winner of the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge--a desert robot race across 132 miles), Princeton University and Team MIT. The 53 teams will get a visit from DARPA people next month for a road test of their autonomous cars, in a test of their safety and viability for the Urban Challenge, a robot race across mock city streets slated for Nov. … Read more

We're confident that those of you who've had to hump ammo cans or a mortar plate over hill and dusty dale will draw great consolation in the knowledge that those following in your footsteps may have it easier should this contraption find its way into the grunt inventory.

While still in the prototype stage, the BigDog robotic mule is supposed to be able to clamber up a 35-degree slope and carry a 120-pound load through rough terrain at more than 5 miles per hour. Billed as "the most advanced quadruped robot on earth" it's the … Read more