DARPA to invest in iRobot's inflatable robot arm
(Phys.org) -- In military operations there are a lot of things that need to be done besides fighting, and the US government is hoping to offload as much of those things as possible to robots. To that end, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has directed funds at all manner of projects aimed at developing robots that can haul heavy loads, diffuse bombs, traverse mine fields, etc. Thus far however, most such efforts have been focused on heavy duty jobs with heavy duty robots. Now, however, it appears DARPA has recognized a new need: smaller, lighter robots that can perform more tactile tasks in chorus with human soldiers. The agency is about to award iRobot (of Roomba fame) $625,000 to build an inflatable robot arm that can pick things up and set them down in a reliable fashion and that won’t cause harm to soldiers if they should run...