It is really not so easy to win !!
Street-fighting robot challenge announced, 24 January 2007,
NewScientist.com news service
* New Scientist Tech and AFP
A contest to build a robot that can operate autonomously in
urban warfare conditions, moving in and out of buildings to search
and destroy targets like a human soldier, was launched in Singapore
on Tuesday.
The country's Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) is
offering one million Singapore dollars ($652,000) to whoever
develops a robot that completes a stipulated set of tasks yet to
be revealed in the fastest time possible.
DSTA said individuals, companies, universities and research
institutes are all welcome to participate in the contest, dubbed
the TechX Challenge, although foreigners must collaborate with
local partners.
"Operation in urban areas represents a significant challenge," DSTA
chief executive Richard Lim said at the launch of the contest.
"Recent military experiences in Iraq, the Middle East and other
locations have clearly illustrated these challenges."
Remote control
Currently, robots deployed for urban warfare missions are normally
operated remotely by a human, tying up resources, Lim said. DSTA
wants to create a robot that "must, on its own, be able to navigate
both indoors and outdoors in an urban landscape and accomplish a
set of assigned tasks within a stipulated time", he said.
This robot must be able to negotiate a staircase and use the
elevator to dash from one floor to another without the aid of
satellite navigation, which may not be available indoors.
Navigation without satellite help would require the robot "to have
machine vision capabilities to identify visual cues along its
intended path to serve as waypoints", Lim said.
Robert Richardson at the University of Manchester, UK, says the
competition could present a major challenge to even the most
sophisticated robot. He notes that robots can navigate through an
"unrestricted urban environment", by building a virtual map of a 3D
space with relative ease.
Different doors
But Richardson adds that slightly more complex tasks, like opening
a door or using an elevator, can present a huge problem. "How do
you know which button goes where, or even what floor you're on?" he
says. "It's very, very confusing." One solution, he says, is to
train a robot by presenting it with hundreds of different doors and
elevators.
Some defence experts say the fight against terrorism has made urban
warfare increasingly common, and believe that high-tech weaponry
could help minimise casualties.
Participants must submit their applications by the end of May 2007
and a shortlist of participants will be announced in June 2007. The
robots will be tested in a qualifying round in May 2008 and a final
round, in August 2008, will crown the robot warrior that can
complete the assigned task in the fastest time.
