BOULDER, Colo — It is Research & Innovation Week at the University of Colorado at Boulder. To celebrate, the university hosted a robotics showcase for the public.
The College of Engineering and Applied Science demonstrated some of its best technology in the engineering center. Students at CU Boulder are developing cutting-edge robotics to help with future search and rescue efforts and other dangerous, dark and dirty jobs.
Dr. William Doe, CU Boulder Research development manager, said their goal is to find new solutions to the perplexing problems facing the world.
"Robotics is something that's being used pretty much in every walk of life. It's very interdisciplinary. We have students that have interest in electrical engineering, computer science, mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, all of those kinds of degrees contribute to robotics," said Doe.
Robotics lab manager Destin Woods and PhD student Miles Mena showcased a powerful dog-like robotic that would be useful in search and rescue operations.
"It would use these cameras to find different objects within the environment that could detect a human presence of some sort. A 3D map is created from the lidar that sits on top of the robot. It would autonomously plan to create a path that will expand the map so it can explore more areas," said Woods.
Spot, the four-legged robot, is capable of autonomous exploration. Parts and all, he is worth about $150,000.
"This robot was part of a program that was designed to place robots in dangerous, dirty and dark situations. All those environments you don't want a human in because they're detrimental to their health and their safety," said Mena.
PhD student Heiko Kabutz demonstrated CLARI and mCLARI. It is an insect-sized robot that is capable of shifting. Changing its form allows for exploration and discovery in the tiniest of places.
"Our robot is a four-legged, small-scale robot, which is similar to an insect, but a robot. The body is soft, so the body can change shape, which allows the robot to squeeze into gaps where typically a robot can't fit into," Kabutz said.
Next, Kabutz and his team plan to further enhance the mCLARI by adding more features and advancing the shape-shifting and leg motions.
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