Indeed, 4 of the 17 teams have chosen the 3-Finger Adaptive Robot Gripper for their design of a robot capable of assisting humans in responding to natural and man-made disaster, such as Fukushima.
The DARPA ROBOTICS CHALLENGE is an initiative of the US Department of Defense to develop new technologies and make new robotic breakthroughs. Through this challenge, teams have had to design robots that will conduct humanitarian, disaster relief and related operations.
Teams that have selected the 3-Finger Adaptive end effector from Robotiq are internationally renowned: Schaft, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the National Robotics Engineering Center of Carnegie Mellon University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Through this challenge the robots will have to achieve various tasks such as:
The December TRIALS are the second stage of this competition. In these trials, the robots will have to face the difficult tasks listed above. The DARPA organization also wants to establish a baseline for robotic capabilities with this competition. These trials will determine which teams will continue to the final stage of the competition that will take place in December 2014 with one of the final teams winning a two million dollar prize, as well as the prestige of winning the competition.
Before heading down to Florida, the Tartan Rescue Team from Carnegie Mellon University has introduced their robot - CHIMP - to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Following is the interview.
Here is another video from WPI introducing their robot for the competition.
In the meantime, take a look at other innovative robotic projects where our Adaptive Gripper is used: