[Robotgroup] Article: NewScientist - Battlebots- For *real*

[Vern Graner]

from this link:

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn11021-streetfighting-robot-challenge-announced.html

comes this article:

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Street-fighting robot challenge announced

14:10 24 January 2007

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.
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