The age of cooperative control of robots nears
Sophisticated robots perform many complex — and dangerous —military and homeland security missions; Dartmouth researchers work on moving beyond one-soldier-per-robot approach to allow one sodier to control several robots
Here is an example of marrying a sophisticated piece of hardware to a new governing concept: Researchers at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth are using engineering software from software programs from Needham, Massachusetts-based PTC (Nasdaq: PMTC) to develop autonomous, mobile, high-speed, low-cost robots which will be governed by what the researchers term “cooperative control.” These robots aim to assist community first responders in rapidly and safely assessing potentially dangerous situations, thus reducing risks to the responders. Note that PTC’s Pro/ENGINEER is used by forty-five of the top fifty-two engineering universities in the United States.
Cooperative control allows one person to control several high-speed, all terrain robots. This approach obviates the need for the one-soldier-per-robot control procedure currently required with highly specialized military and law enforcement robots. When fully developed, the cooperative control approach would make sophisticated robots more affordable, augemtning the ability of cash-strapped communities to use robotics technology to optimize their public safety initiatives.
The Dartmouth team, rather than use commercially available robots in the study, opted instead to develop their own robots. “Robotics development is highly complex, involving mechanical, electrical and software components. As a result, it is typically a very long and costly process,” says Laura Ray, associate professor of engineering at Dartmouth. “The 3D solid modeling capabilities of Pro/ENGINEER allowed us to determine the final outcome before investing time and money in the prototype. We could be fully confident that all the parts were going to fit, minimizing the impact of rework.”
