Atlas – The Disaster-Response Robot

Atlas is an advanced humanoid robot that was developed by Boston Dynamics for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The disaster-response robot was revealed to the public in July 2013 and used in the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC). Where it was put through a several task that could happen in a disaster scenario. Ever since then Boston Dynamics has been improving Atlas throughout the years, and their progress can be seen by the the rare update video they release. Atlas was designed to be able to assist emergency services in disasters.

In theory Atlas could open doors, use emergency equipment in places were humans could not in disasters. This requirements are tested during the DRC where it was put through 8 task. Atlas was to drive a vehicle, travel through a rough terrain, climb a ladder, clear debris, open doors, cut a wall in a specific pattern, close a valve, and finally connect a fire hose to a valve. These are the kind of task that disaster-response robots like Atlas should be able to do not just well, but in a relatively quick time. Originally Atlas was 6 feet 2 inches weighing 330 pounds, now Atlas is closer to 5 feet 165 pounds and can carry about 24 pounds of cargo. Currently Atlas is powered by an on board battery, and moves it 28 joints with the help of hydraulics. Atlas know where to go by the help of its Lidar and Stereo Vision. Lidar vision, usually on self-driving car, provides a continuous 360 degrees of visibility and provides accurate depth information of up to 2 centimeters. A LIDAR sensor sends a continuous laser and measures how long it takes the laser to come back to the sensor to measure the distance of the object.

The millions light beams being sent per second helps create a 3D picture, how far objects are being measured depends of what kind of sensor you have. Now Stereo Vision is a way to get 3D information from digital images taken from to separate cameras, similar to human vision. Two cameras take a picture at the same time and by applying an algorithms we can get the dimension of object in the pictures. With Stereo vision providing accurate measurements of objects and Lidar vision providing the accurate distance of objects Atlas can create a very accurate map of its surroundings. The design of Atlas has both the Lidar sensor and the stereo cameras located on its “head”. Also in its head is the wireless antennas that help get the commands from the operator to Atlas. You can also find the wireless E-stop button, that will shut down the robot in case of an emergency. Atlas also has low-set arms that provide a wide range of motion,wrist that allow the ability to attach different tool or hands, and ankles that allow its feet to move up and down and side to side. The moving of its limbs is powered by the use of hydraulic actuators. Atlas knows how and where to go because the operator uses several methods to get the correct instruction to Atlas. One method is footstep planning, for example if Atlas has to climb stairs the operator would tell it what to do with its leg,arms, and torso. The operator would also use trajectory planning to tell Atlas how quickly he has to get to a certain location, for example the operator would tell Atlas to reach location b in X amount of steps.

The other method that control torque and hydraulics usage to give Atlas the smoothes movement possible. All this methods are taken into account when programing a task that can later be transmitted to the Atlas. Over the years Atlas has been able to do more task, thanks to the updates made to it by the robotics team working on it. Atlas started as a robot that was over 6 feet tall that weighed over 300 pounds but now it is around 5 feet tall weighing around 165 pounds. Changes like these help Atlas become one of the most agile humanoid robots in the world. If constant upgrades keep being done to Atlas as new technology keep coming out, I can see Atlas become a great help in disaster emergencies in the next decade.