Chuck Hagel given a look at Atlas, Darpa’s humanitarian robot
US defence secretary given a glimpse of Pentagon's hi-tech experiments, including life-size robot designed to rescue trapped victims of disasters
US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel got a first-hand look at a life-size robot that resembles Hollywood's Terminator, the latest experiment by the Pentagon's hi-tech researchers.
But unlike the movie version, the hulking Atlas was designed not as a warrior but as a humanitarian machine that would rescue victims in the rubble of a natural disaster, officials said.
The competition, which will require the bots to navigate rough terrain and enter buildings, was created in the aftermath of Japan's Fukushima quake and tsunami disasters.
Darpa, the Pentagon's research arm known for futuristic projects often evoking science fiction, showed off Atlas to Hagel on Tuesday, but except for LED lighting, it was apparently switched off on a "static" display.
Brad Tousley, head of Darpa's Tactical Technology Office, told Hagel that Hollywood had created unrealistic expectations of what real robots can do.