JAYFORCE

Of the teams participating in the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) last year, NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) developed the clear winner – a humanoid robonaut, Valkyrie.

Valkyrie (designated R5 by NASA) is a 1.9 meter tall, 125 kilogram, battery-powered human-like robot. A JSC team in Houston partnered with The University of Texas and Texas A&M (with funding from the state of Texas) to build the R5 for the DRC.

The DRC challenge was to create tech that could walk over uneven terrain, climb a ladder, use tools, and drive; pretty much be capable of operating in the same spaces that a person would operate in, under the control of humans who have only minimal training with robots. Nice. Take a look.

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