WPI Research is the research magazine of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. It contains news and features about graduate research in the arts and sciences, business, and engineering, along with notes about new grants, books, and faculty achievements.
Issue link: http://wpiresearch.epubxp.com/i/90696
Robots That Will Go Where Humans Fear to Tread It sounds like a science fiction scenario: a nuclear reactor is racing toward meltdown, and someone needs to close a valve to stop cooling water from leaking out of the reactor. Unfortunately, radia- tion levels near the valve would be fatal to a human being. The solution: send in a humanoid robot that can drive to the reactor, clamor over debris, climb a ladder, break through some concrete, locate the valve, and crank it closed. Sometime in the next three years, a robot may successfully achieve a mission very much like that one to win a $2 million prize through the DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) Robotics Challenge. The challenge is intended to spur the development of advanced technologies that can enable human-like robots to execute com- plex tasks in human-engineered environments and to work where it is too risky to send people. "This is the most exciting humanoid robotics project ever undertaken in the United States," notes Dmitry Berenson, assistant professor of computer science and robotics engineering. "Other countries have made advances in this area, but there has been resistance to humanoid robots here, partly for cultural reasons and partly be- cause they are very difficult to work with. But humanoid robots can be useful in many scenarios, everything from helping elderly people live in their own homes to responding to disasters, so it is exciting to see DARPA investing in the research foundation for this field." Berenson is leading a WPI group that is part of a multi-university effort to develop a robot to compete in the DARPA challenge. Led by Paul Oh at Drexel University, the team, which has received a $3 million award from DARPA, also includes researchers from Columbia University, the University of Delaware, Georgia Tech, Indiana University, Ohio State, Purdue, Swarthmore, and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. Different university teams are working on the eight tasks outlined in the DARPA proposal. WPI will tackle Task 7: locate and close a valve near a leaking pipe. "This task requires a lot of difficult work," Berenson says. "First, the robot has to locate the right valve. Then it has to determine where to stand, which for humans is intui- tive because we can draw on millions of years of evolution and decades of experience. But for a robot this is a very difficult prob- lem because there are all sorts of reachability and balance issues. Finally, it needs to turn the valve, which is also a complex task." The WPI team will bring several areas of expertise to bear on this task. Berenson's work in motion planning algorithms, which help robots plan out complex actions, will play a critical role throughout the activity. Sonia Chernova, assistant professor of computer science and robotics engineering, will apply her expertise in machine learning and learning from demonstration to the challenge of teaching the robot how to execute the required activities. Rob Lindeman, associate professor of computer science, will draw on his knowledge of virtual reality and novel computer interfaces to develop an interface people can use to give the robot high-level guidance. In his current work, Gegear is focused on a different pollinating insect, the bumblebee, and its reciprocal relationship with flowering plants. In work that encom- passes evolutionary ecology, cognitive psychology, and behavioral neuroscience, he is investigating how the bumblebee's miniature brain is capable of remark- ably complex cognitive functions, and how the mental activity of bees and the decisions they make as they gather food and pollinate plants ultimately have pro- found consequences for the ecosystem and the human food supply. In the months ahead, the multi-university team will be developing its robot systems, first in simulations, then with a Korean humanoid robot called HUBO. This will be a prelude to complicated series of elimination events pitting against one another a host of univer- sity and private teams, some funded by DARPA, others self-funded, culminating, perhaps, with one $2 million winner. Berenson says the challenge ahead is huge, but the opportunity to advance humanoid robotics research makes it worthwhile. "This is an amazing competition," he says. "Whatever happens, I feel very lucky to be a part of it." [3]