IEEE Spectrum January, 2014 - 55

to the real robot, where
every move must be carefully
executed. Make an error
in the control algorithm
and your Atlas might come
crashing down face first.
One team reported that a
buggy line of code nearly sent
one of Atlas's feet into its own
chest. Another said that while
they were teaching Atlas to
walk over concrete blocks,
the robot ended up kicking
the blocks with enough force
to destroy them.
In simulation, you can
always try new things and
start it all over when it
doesn't work, says Michael
Gennert, one of the leaders
of the Worcester Polytechnic
Institute team. With a
$2 million robot, not so
much. "You can't just reboot
it after a crash," he says.

From top: NatioNal robotics ENgiNEEriNg cENtEr/carNEgiE mElloN UNivErsity; Darpa

roboT resCuers: CHiMP
[top] and atlas are two robots
competing in DarPa's simulated
disaster response.

face-off. The robot, called
Atlas, was built by Boston
Dynamics, most famous
for its BigDog quadruped.
Powered by hydraulic
actuators, Atlas is nearly
2 meters tall and weighs
150 kilograms-as much as a
large refrigerator. In a video
demo, a 9-kg wrecking ball
hanging by a strap slams
into Atlas as it stands on
one foot; the robot quickly
adjusts its balance.
For teams that receive an
Atlas loaner, a big challenge
is transferring what they
accomplished in simulation
iCon by

Greg Mably

D a r Pa s P e C I F I C a L Ly
mentions the Fukushima
accident as an example of
a disaster that would have
benefited from more capable
robots. Indeed, the scenario
DARPA is planning for the
final competition closely
resembles the dramatic
events that unfolded in
the first 24 hours of the
Fukushima catastrophe,
when workers attempted
but ultimately failed to fix
one of the crippled reactors.
DRC program manager
Gill Pratt rejects the notion
that the tasks DARPA has
concocted for the robots
might be too difficult given
the current state of the art.
In the agency's parlance,
the tasks are "DARPA hard,"
he says, but not impossible.
"It's a goal that has a lot of

risk but a lot of reward as
well, and that's really the
theme of what DARPA tries
to do."
Most teams that IEEE
Spectrum spoke with
don't expect to put on an
exceptional performance
during the preliminary
contest. But they're hopeful
that later this year their
robots will do much better. So
you might see a repeat of what
happened with the DARPA
challenges for self-driving
vehicles. The first was a big
failure: Most vehicles barely
made it out of the starting
gate. But the following races
were a different story. The
robotic vehicles were able to
drive themselves admirably,
first through the desert and
later around a mock city.
Some of their designers

went on to work for Google,
developing its now-famous
self-driving cars.
The same could happen
with the DRC. And even if
the challenge fails to foster
the creation of practical
disaster robots in the near
future, it will certainly show
their possibilities and propel
many technologies forward.
"The actual competition
robots are prototypes and not
yet ready for deployment,"
says Seth Teller of the MIT
team. "But the DRC is a first
and important step toward
a future in which, even as
disasters like Fukushima
unfold, people will be able
to send machines to do their
bidding." -Er ico Guizzo
PosT your CoMMenTs at http://
spectrum.ieee.org/robot0114

*honoRable Mention*

Gooooooooaalll!
High-speed cameras and
smart watches will verify goals
at the 2014 World Cup
aT THis suMMer's
FIFA World Cup soccer
tournament in Brazil, an
electronic referee will
join the whistle-blowing
kind. GoalControl, of
Würselen, Germany, will position 14 highspeed cameras on the field as part of its
GoalControl 4D system. When the system
detects that a goal has been scored, it will
send a vibration and a text alert to officials'
watches. Miscalled goals should be a thing
of the past. -TeKla s. Perry
http://http:// http://spectrum.ieee.org/robot0114
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum January, 2014
