These Robot Legs Were Made For Walkin’

Filed under Robots, Videos by on June 26, 2012 at 7:40 am {no comments}

"They call me...PETMAN." (No really, they call him Petman)

Remember the $2 million-dollar robot contest I was telling you about a couple of months ago?

Well check out these babies.

This video shows versions of DARPA and Boston Dynamics robots climbing stairs, walking on a treadmill and doing pushups.



A modified platform resembling these robots is expected to be used as government-funded equipment (GFE) for performers in Tracks B and C of the DARPA Robotics Challenge. The GFE Platform is expected to have two arms, two legs, a torso and a head, and will be physically capable of performing all of the tasks required for the disaster response scenarios scheduled in the Challenge.

However, despite the appearance of the robots in the video, the Challenge is decidedly not exclusive to humanoid robot solutions.

Any designs are welcome provided they are compatible with shared human-robot environments, compatible with human tools, and compatible with human operators so that a human without expertise in robotics can give commands and confidently anticipate the response.
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Ten Technologies: A Brief Look at Military Evolution – Modeling and Simulation

Filed under Featured, STEM, Technology by on November 11, 2011 at 12:07 pm {2 comments}

By Carla Voorhees,
Defense Media Activity

This is the final in a series of 10 technologies integral to the United States military since World War I.

All branches of the military rely on modeling and simulation for planning purposes, war games, training, exercises, development of new technology, and many other reasons.

Amela Sadagic, a research associate professor, demonstrates the virtual sand table for urban warfare operations training rehearsals during the MOVES 9th Annual Research Summit July 22, 2009, in Monterey, Calif. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class John Fischer)

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Connecting Science, Technology and Academics in Cyberspace

Filed under Education & Culture, Featured, Technology by on December 9, 2010 at 2:18 pm {2 comments}
Students at the Science Center of Pinellas Country, FL, interact with fellow adult learners and practitioner instructors from industry. (Photo: Mr. Joseph Cuenco, Center Director)

Students at the Science Center of Pinellas Country, FL, interact with fellow adult learners and practitioner instructors from industry. (Photo: Mr. Joseph Cuenco, Center Director)

by Carl W. Hunt, Ph.D., Directed Technologies, Inc., and Richard Raines, Ph.D., U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology, 6 December 2010

Technology has provided humanity more connectivity than most people dreamed possible even 25 years ago. In countries like America, technological progress often outpaces our understanding of what this progress does to us and what it offers to us as the future unfolds. Fortunately, science can often help give us a better context as to how new technology ultimately affects us.

Gaining contextual understanding of people living, learning and working in cyberspace is the core objective of Science Enhanced Network Domains and Secure Social Spaces (SENDS). The SENDS Pilot Project tasks described in last month’s blog give us an enabling framework for that understanding to emerge through the study of what we are calling a Science of Cyberspace. We think of this new science as “open-source science,” loosely derived from a Scientific American article a couple of years ago, by Mitch Waldrop on the topic of what he called “Science 2.0.”

As it is open source science, we are looking for maximum participation in all walks of life, particularly from the people who actually use cyberspace today and in the future.  One of the most exciting prospective user groups is today’s students. SENDS has partnered with a variety of organizations in its informal SENDS Consortium, and one of our very innovative educational groups is the Science Center of Pinellas County, FL.

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New DoD Project Developing a “Science of Cyberspace”

Filed under Social Sciences, Technology by on October 28, 2010 at 11:12 am {one comment}
Dr. Carl Hunt is the project manager for a DoD project developing "The Science of Cyberspace". (Courtesy photo)

Dr. Carl Hunt is the project manager for a DoD project developing "The Science of Cyberspace". (Courtesy photo)

Dr. Carl Hunt is the Senior Research Director for Information Operations for Arlington, VA-based Directed Technologies, Inc., and is the Project Manager for SENDS. Dr. Hunt is a retired Army officer with extensive experience in network-based operations and defense.

Change happens at the speed of communication and nothing changes human behavior like open communication. The Internet and development of the World Wide Web has changed the way people communicate, it has changed the way they conduct commerce, it has changed the way they live their lives. Cyberspace has not changed any of the physical laws of the universe, but it has brought a new dimension and, as Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn says, for the Dept. of Defense it has brought a new domain. Now, the challenge is learning to maneuver in this new domain.

DoD’s Director of Defense Research and Engineering’s Rapid Reaction Technology Office (RRTO) has been working with the US Air Force Institute of Technology’s Center for Cyberspace Research (CCR) on a project called, “Science Enhanced Networked Domains and Secure Social Spaces” (SENDS). RRTO and CCR have supported this project since late 2009 and SENDS has recently begun posting progress on its work in a new blog called SENDS & The Science of Cyberspace.

A formal SENDS Pilot Project has been underway since June, 2010, and consists of several primary tasks that are highlighted in the blogs. One of the major tasks deals with a sophisticated modeling and simulation effort called SENDSim, which will serve as the primary experimentation environment for the project. Another significant task explores the feasibility of developing a Center for the Science of Cyberspace that will help refine future studies and experiments in cyberspace science and exploration.

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Air Force Using Serious Game Technology to Enhance Training

Filed under Education & Culture, Technology by on August 19, 2010 at 12:27 pm {no comments}
Air Staff officials will institutionalize the remotely piloted aircraft pilot career field by establishing undergraduate RPA training. (Image: US Air Force/Nick Medrano)

Air Staff officials will institutionalize the remotely piloted aircraft pilot career field by establishing undergraduate training. (Image: US Air Force/Nick Medrano)

Col. John Thompson is the Future Learning Advisor to the Air Education and Training Command (AETC) Director of Plans, Programs, Requirements, and Assessments. He is responsible for facilitating innovation across AETC’s recruiting, training and education mission.

One of my favorite questions for the audience when I’m briefing our future learning program is, “What should be an Air Force game for recruiting?”

The US Army developed America’s Army into a great recruiting and training tool using the latest in video game technology. Often, the answer I get is a fifth generation fighter simulator, but we don’t seem to have troubles recruiting F-22 pilots.

Instead, AETC is developing a Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) simulator. Not many details are releasable beyond the fact it will be based on the Predator/Reaper weapon system.

On the flight simulation side, we continue to look at what would allow us to put more training into the simulator. That might be increasing the realism by putting artificially intelligent air traffic control and traffic in the simulator.

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