DARPA Urban Circuit – 2 weeks to go!
Our robot team has already hit the road headed to Satsop Business Park in Elma, Washington for the DARPA Urban Circuit.
In the SubT Challenge, teams deploy autonomous ground and aerial systems to attempt to map, identify, and report artifacts along two competition courses. The artifacts represent items a first responder or service member may encounter in underground environments.
Three artifacts are common to all three circuit events, which take place in tunnel, urban, and cave environments. The common artifacts include a thermal manikin that emulates a human survivor; a cell phone; and an adult-sized red backpack. Each circuit will have two unique artifacts for a total of five different item types teams will attempt to locate and identify.
For the Urban Circuit, the new artifacts are gas and a vent. The gas artifact is a CO2-emitting device used to simulate a range of hazardous air quality conditions, such as a gas leak, poor ventilation, or fumes and smoke. Finding this artifact represents identifying areas that would be hazardous for personnel, including areas where breathing apparatus may be necessary. The vent artifact is a typical supply register commonly found in homes or work environments. Finding this artifact represents identifying potential areas with fresh air or an escape route to the surface.
Read about how our team is preparing for this event.
The video below depicts the underground environment to be explored and conquered by the competing teams during the Urban Circuit, which starts in two weeks. Stay tuned for upcoming updates!
Good luck to all participating teams!
Contact us to learn more.