Jason Ford

US engineers unveil transformer-style robotic chimp

News

Engineers at Carnegie Mellon University’s (CMU) National Robotics Engineering Center (NERC) have developed CHIMP, a highly dexterous robot capable of tackling rough terrain.

CHIMP (CMU Highly Intelligent Mobile Platform) has simian resemblance but rubberised tracks on the extremities of its four limbs give it the locomotion of a tracked vehicle.

According to CMU, this configuration offers an advantage when moving over debris. CHIMP can, however, move on the treads of two limbs when needed, such as when tasked to use one or more limbs to open a valve, or to operate power tools.

CHIMP will have to perform these and other tasks during the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Robotics Challenge (DRC), in which robots will have human-like capabilities to respond to events such as the 2011 Fukushima nuclear plant disaster. Climbing ladders and driving vehicles are said to be among the obstacles robots will face in environments engineered for people.

The NREC entry, Tartan Rescue Team, is one of seven selected by DARPA for DRC Track A, in which each team will develop its own hardware and software.

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