Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




ENERGY TECH
How do you turn 10 minutes of power into 200? Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency
by Staff Writers
Washington DC (SPX) Jul 06, 2012


File image.

A robot that drives into an industrial disaster area and shuts off a valve leaking toxic steam might save lives. A robot that applies supervised autonomy to dexterously disarm a roadside bomb would keep humans out of harm's way. A robot that carries hundreds of pounds of equipment over rocky or wooded terrain would increase the range warfighters can travel and the speed at which they move. But a robot that runs out of power after ten to twenty minutes of operation is limited in its utility.

In fact, use of robots in defense missions is currently constrained in part by power supply issues. DARPA has created the M3 Actuation program, with the goal of achieving a 2,000 percent increase in the efficiency of power transmission and application in robots, to improve performance potential.

Humans and animals have evolved to consume energy very efficiently for movement. Bones, muscles and tendons work together for propulsion using as little energy as possible. If robotic actuation can be made to approach the efficiency of human and animal actuation, the range of practical robotic applications will greatly increase and robot design will be less limited by power plant considerations.

M3 Actuation is an effort within DARPA's Maximum Mobility and Manipulation (M3) robotics program, and adds a new dimension to DARPA's suite of robotics research and development work.

"By exploring multiple aspects of robot design, capabilities, control and production, we hope to converge on an adaptable core of robot technologies that can be applied across mission areas," said Gill Pratt, DARPA program manager.

"Success in the M3 Actuation effort would benefit not just robotics programs, but all engineered, actuated systems, including advanced prosthetic limbs."

Proposals are sought in response to a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). DARPA expects that solutions will require input from a broad array of scientific and engineering specialties to understand, develop and apply actuation mechanisms inspired in part by humans and animals.

Technical areas of interest include, but are not limited to: low-loss power modulation, variable recruitment of parallel transducer elements, high-bandwidth variable impedance matching, adaptive inertial and gravitational load cancellation, and high-efficiency power transmission between joints.

Research and development will cover two tracks of work:

+ Track 1 asks performer teams to develop and demonstrate high-efficiency actuation technology that will allow robots similar to the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) platform to have twenty times longer endurance than the DRC GFE when running on untethered battery power (currently only 10-20 minutes). Using Government Furnished Information about the GFE, M3 Actuation performers will have to build a robot that incorporates the new actuation technology. These robots will be demonstrated at, but not compete in, the second DRC live competition scheduled for December 2014.

+ Track 2 will be tailored to performers who want to explore ways of improving the efficiency of actuators, but at scales both larger and smaller than applicable to the DRC GFE platform, and at technical readiness levels insufficient for incorporation into a platform during this program. Essentially, Track 2 seeks to advance the science and engineering behind actuation without the requirement to apply it at this point.

While separate efforts, M3 Actuation will run in parallel with the DRC. In both programs DARPA seeks to develop the enabling technologies required for expanded practical use of robots in defense missions. Thus, performers on M3 Actuation will share their design approaches at the first DRC live competition scheduled for December 2013, and demonstrate their final systems at the second DRC live competition scheduled for December 2014.

.


Related Links
DARPA
Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








ENERGY TECH
New spin on old method to develop more efficient electronics
Pittsburgh PA (SPX) Jul 03, 2012
With the advent of semiconductor transistors-invented in 1947 as a replacement for bulky and inefficient vacuum tubes-has come the consistent demand for faster, more energy-efficient technologies. To fill this need, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh are proposing a new spin on an old method: a switch from the use of silicon electronics back to vacuums as a medium for electron transport ... read more


ENERGY TECH
ESA to catch laser beam from Moon mission

Researchers Estimate Ice Content of Crater at Moon's South Pole

Researchers find evidence of ice content at the moon's south pole

Nanoparticles found in moon glass bubbles explain weird lunar soil behaviour

ENERGY TECH
Butterfly ejecta and wrinkle ridges in Melas Dorsa

Mars Panorama: Next Best Thing to Being There

Evidence for Mars Life Could Come From Phobos

Opportunity Uses Robotic Arm Tools on Rock

ENERGY TECH
ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti set for ISS in 2014

Orion's First Test Flight Offers SLS a First Look at Hardware Operation, Integration

The Road to Space

NASA Unveils Orion During Ceremony

ENERGY TECH
China open to cooperation

China set to launch bigger space program

Nation has long way to go as space power

An inspiring mission

ENERGY TECH
ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers returns to Earth

First Annual ISS Research and Development Conference in Review

Three astronauts land on Earth from ISS in Russian capsule

ISS crew rests before return to Earth

ENERGY TECH
Ariane 5 ECA orbits EchoStar XVII and MSG-3

ATK Unveils Unique Liberty Capability

Avanti Announces Launch Date for HYLAS 2 Satellite

Three Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne RS-68A Engines Power Delta IV Heavy Upgrade Vehicle on Inaugural Flight

ENERGY TECH
Study in Nature sheds new light on planet formation

New Instrument Sifts Through Starlight to Reveal New Worlds

Planet-Forming Disk Turns Off Lights, Locks Doors

New Planet-weighing Technique Found

ENERGY TECH
Recognizing Telstar and the Birth of Global Communications

US court lifts Samsung phone ban, keeps tablet block

Lockheed Martin Skunk Works Receives DARPA ALASA Contract Award

Phone app allows US users to film police activity




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement