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MALIBU, Calif., August 25, 2010—HRL Laboratories, LLC, has received a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to significantly improve autonomous robotic capabilities as part of the Autonomous Robotic Manipulation, or ARM program.
Mobile manipulation has led to deployable platforms that reduce casualties in the field. However, these platforms have limited flexibility to perform in a variety of environments and require nearly constant human control.
As one of several teams funded by the ARM program, HRL will develop an autonomous robotic system that rapidly adapts to tasks and manipulators, operates in a variety of environments, deals with uncertainties about objects and its surroundings, and automatically recovers from failures.
“Our goal is to design and develop software that allows robotic systems to be deployed for an unprecedented range of tasks, work in outdoor and/or human environments, and be controlled with minimal human intervention,” said Dr. Heiko Hoffmann, HRL Senior Scientist and ARM program lead.
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HRL Laboratories, LLC, Malibu, California (www.hrl.com) is a corporate research-and-development laboratory owned by The Boeing Company and General Motors specializing in research into sensors and materials, information and systems sciences, applied electromagnetics, and microelectronics. HRL provides custom research and development and performs additional R&D contract services for its LLC member companies, the U.S. government, and other commercial companies.