Japanese SCHAFT S-One robot wins DARPA Robotics Challenge qualifier

    In the finals of the DARPA Robotics Challenge qualifying tournament, which was held on December 20-21, the Japanese team SCHAFT with the S-One robot won , gaining 27 points out of 32 possible. It is noteworthy that this small Japanese startup was recently acquired by Google, which seems to have seriously taken up robotics - over the past year, Google has bought eight robotics companies, including Boston Dynamics .



    SCHAFT S-One is a short (1 m 48 cm high), but "broad-shouldered" (1 m 31 cm wide) robot weighing 95 kg. It is based on another highly successful HRP-2 model . One of the main distinguishing features of the robot is its physical strength. It uses specially designed actuators with very high peak power. They are electric motors combined with capacitors, which are capable of delivering a powerful current pulse at the right time. In order for the engines to withstand this operating mode, hydraulic cooling has to be used. This allows the robot to maintain balance and react to sudden shocks no worse than Boston Dynamics hydraulic robots.


    One of the earliest SCHAFT prototypes weighing 53 kg keeps its balance after the jolts and jumps 44 cm.

    In addition to SCHAFT, seven more teams entered the final stage of the DARPA competition, which will be held in December 2014. Here is a list of finalists:

    1. SHAFT (27 points)
    2. IHMS Robotics (20 points)
    3. Tartan Rescue (18 points)
    4. MIT (16 points)
    5. RoboSimian (14 points)
    6. TRAClabs (11 points)
    7. WRECS (11 points)
    8. TROOPER (9 points)



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