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| First round was on a computer. IHMC photo |
PENSACOLA, Fla. – A team from the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) took first place in the initial stage of the DARPA Robotics Challenge, coming out on top of a roster of 26 of the top robotics research groups in the world. IHMC's team scored 52 out of a possible 60 points in the DARPA Virtual Robotics Challenge, a computer simulation using software that will power a real-life humanoid robot in the future. Members of the top nine teams in the scoring move on to the next competition, with the top six getting funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and provision of a humanoid robot, built by Boston Dynamics, for the next stage of the two-year competition. The next competition, using actual robots, is scheduled for December 2013. The final challenge is set for December 2014, with $2 million in prize money at stake. (Source:
IHMC,
Pensacola News Journal, 06/28/13) IHMC has worked with NASA for years on multiple projects, including creating the algorithms to provide locomotion for a walking version of Robonaut2, the humanoid aboard the International Space Station.
