The xTechHumanoid competition drew 103 proposals and produced 10 finalists, nine of which demonstrated their technology at Marine Corps Base Quantico on September 9 and 10. The Army announced the five winners on September 11 after evaluations by military leaders and technical experts.
Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, Inc. won with Alex, a humanoid robot combining impact-resilient actuators, ballistic protection and both artificial intelligence and human control. ACES Group, LLC and Hydroplane Ltd. were selected for power systems, Ras Labs, Inc. for tactile sensors and Velocity Explorations for software that converts command intent into actions for humanoid robots.
The technologies address different practical challenges: keeping robots powered, allowing them to sense physical contact and directing their actions. The Army is examining such capabilities as potential ways to reduce soldiers’ exposure to dangerous and physically demanding tasks.
“We are identifying the problems, mission needs, and opportunities to enable our formations with the right mix of tools,” said Army Chief Technology Officer Dr. Alex Miller. The Army said the competition helped it assess the maturity of commercially developed systems and identify areas needing further work.
“The xTech competition is really an interesting and unique one because it allows you to pressure test your technology in a field exercise paradigm,” said Alec Leesberg, president and co-founder of Velocity Explorations. Dr. Anita Sengupta, founder and chief executive of Hydroplane Ltd., said, “Competing against other companies makes you better, connects you to a network of people across the military and industry, and ultimately allows you to develop a product for a real customer.”
The Army’s Humanoid Community of Collaboration is taking the findings into its next phase of work, including an examination of power and energy constraints. Those findings will inform further development and experimentation with humanoid and other robotic systems, the Army said.
