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RobotBlog: Veille RobotBlog: Companies Work to Save Bomb-Clearing #Robots --> http://tinyurl.com/2vlfl4o #robot #robotics »The Segway RMP 100 is a two-wheeled, dynamically stable balancing platform with a small footprint and a zero degree turning radius. At twice the speed, range and payload of the RMP50, this small, but capable platform offers unique upright mobility for indoor and outdoor robotics applications.
Segway Inc. will supply its Robotic Mobility Platforms (RMP) to Marathon Robotics as part of a $50 Million contract with the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC).
Marathon Robotics has spent the last 8 year perfecting an integrated system of mobile target practice robots that will revolutionize the quality and effectiveness of live-fire training. The Segway RMP continues to be their preferred mobile robot platform due to its speed, agility, and robustness.
For more information, please see the Marathon Robotics press release
The Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre for Autonomous Systems (CAS) entered the RoboCup@Home competition this year with a new personal assistance robot built on a Segway RMP 100 mobile robot platform. The CAS is the second largest robotics research group in the world with representation from the University of Sydney, the University of New South Wales and the University of Technology Sydney
The RoboCup@Home competition judges navigation, mapping, object recognition, and human-robot interaction in realistic, home-like environments. RoboCup@Home is the largest international annual competition for autonomous service robots.
The MDS (mobile, dextrous, social) robot combines mobile manipulation with verbal capabilities as well as facial expressions. Built on a Segway RMP 200 base platform, the MDS robot features laser and infrared rangefinders, color CCDs, microphones, and 7DOF hands. According to Xitome’s website, the RMP “provides a small footprint and ultimate maneuverability”. MDS is now available for purchase from Xitome.
The MDS ”Ocatvia” in the video below belongs to the US Navy. Developed to improve robot interactions with humans, the Navy Center for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence (NCARAI) outfitted Octavia with a Fast Linear Optical Appearance Tracker (FLOAT) system, Head Gesture Recognizer, Set Theoretic Anatomical Tracker (STAT), a VLAD Recognizer, and a “modified cognitive architecture” called ACT-R/E.
Video Credit: Science Friday
Photo Credit: Navy Center For Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence (NCARAI)
The Oxford Mobile Robotics Group (MRG) researches many aspects of mobile autonomy with an emphasis on perception and understanding large work spaces. To facilitate this work, the MRG developed an RMP based “Segbot” named “Lisa” that features two SICK LMS 291 laser scanners, a Ladybug camera, and a Bumblebee stereo camera.
The Bosch Research and Technology Center (RTC) is using Willow Garage’s open source Robot Operating System (ROS) together with a Segway RMP to research robotic exploration, 3D mapping, and telepresence. Read more about this project at ROS.org here
NASA’s First-Gen Robonaut B’s upper body was attached to a Segway Robotic Mobility Platform (RMP) so that it could be tested here on Earth.
The Player Project (formerly the Player/Stage Project) creates free, open source robot control interface software that is widely used in robotics education and research.
Instructions on how to install and compile Player 2.1.x for a Segway RMP are available here, thanks to Régis Vincent at SRI International’s Artificial Intelligence Center.
