The list of our robots is growing, see for yourself! We like them rugged bacause they often go outdoors, collecting datasets, capturing lidar maps and driving autonomously around the campus and in the Montmorency forest. The black sheep of this family is the robotic arm, but even that is one day going to end up attached to the Warthog driving in some bushes 😃
Warthog
Large, all-terrain unmanned ground vehicle from Clearpath
It can handle tough environments with its rugged build, low ground pressure, and traction tires, which allow effortless mobility in soft terrain. In the winter season, we exchange the wheels for tracks that allow it to drive on all sorts of snow. It is the optimal platform for the forest environment the Norlab is all about.
- Weight: 280 kg + payload (approx. 150 kg)
- Size: 1.52 x 1.38 x 0.83 m
- Max speed: 18 km/h
- Battery: 12x lead-acid, 48 V, 2.5 h
- Onboard computers: 2x automotive PC, 1x NVidia Xavier planned
- Sensors: 2x 16-beam lidar, 1x 32-beam lidar, IMU, 2x RTK-GPS, 1x RGB camera
For our research, the warthog is equipped with tree RS-LIDARs from RoboSense, a Dalsa camera for collecting visual datasets, two GPS receivers for reference positioning and an IMU for precise attitude estimation. There are also two onboard PCs, one handling low-level drivers of the motor controllers and one dedicated for high-level tasks such as mapping and navigation. They run Ubuntu with ROS.
Husky
Skid-steered robotic development platform from Clearpath
The Husky’s rugged construction and high-torque drivetrain make it suitable for indoor and outdoor, moderately uneven terrains. Husky carries cameras, a LIDAR, and an IMU. It was the Norlab’s workhorse in the DARPA SubT Urban circuit and before that, the first explorer of the Montmorency forest.
- Weight: 62 kg
- Size: 0.99 x 0.67 x 0.39 m
- Max speed: 3.6 km/h
- Battery: 2x lead-acid, 24 V, 2 h
- Onboard computers: 1x Dell 3070, 1x NVidia Xavier
- Sensors: 1x 16-beam lidar, IMU, 6x RGB camera, 1x RGB-D camera
Its payload has been designed by Norlab's students for the DARPA SubT competition. The ability to explore the environment by an omnidirectional set of high-resolution cameras, by a lidar and by an additional RGB-D sensor makes this platform ideal for developing and testing machine-learning and SLAM algorithms. Although not perfect on obstacles and stairs, it can traverse rough terrain, and thus it is going to serve as a dataset-collecting platform of the lab.
Marmotte (HD2)
Tracked robotic development platform from SuperDroid Robots
The tracks of this platform are driven by powerful geared motors through heavy-duty chains. Its frame is ribbed and gusseted to make it rigid, and altogether it has a sturdy and solid chassis that will withstand rough treatment. Its size allows it to easily climb obstacles, ascend stairs, and drive over most terrains. In 2021, it is Norlab’s wild card in the DARPA SubT 🔥
- Weight: 57 kg
- Size: 1.00 x 0.65 x 0.50 m
- Max speed: 4.0 km/h
- Battery: 2x LiFePo4, 25.6 V, 2 h
- Onboard computers: 1x Dell 3070, 1x NVidia Xavier
- Sensors: 1x 16-beam lidar, IMU, 6x RGB camera, 1x RGB-D camera
This robot is Husky's young sister (Marmotte is she), equipped with the same sensor suite to accelerate software development for these two robots. Marmotte's advantage is the fact that it can climb stairs and get to places Husky cannot.
Vaul robot
Heavy unmanned ground vehicle from SuperDroid, customized by students to be a snowplow
The weight of this robot is perfect to plow snow on the sidewalks. The frame is made from aluminum, and four powerful geared motors allow the robot to carry a heavy payload. Students of the robotic club VAUL made a custom frame to carry the sensors and to protect the motors and batteries from the cold during the winter operations. With its plow, the robot can autonomously push around 40 kg of snow.
- Weight: 160 kg
- Size: 1.00 x 1.5 x 1.5 m
- Max speed: 7.2 km/h
- Battery: 4x Sealed Lead Acid Battery, 2x24V, 2h
- Onboard computers: 1x Dell 3070, 1xNVidia Xavier AGX
- Sensors: 1x 16-beam lidar, IMU, 3x RGB camera, 2xReach M+ RTK-GPS
With its diversified sensor suite, this snowplow can operate autonomously in diverse types of weather. The robot participated in its first Autonomous Snowplow Competition in Minneapolis in January 2020.
Universal Robots' UR10e
The UR10e is an extraordinarily versatile collaborative industrial robot from Universal Robots.
Our robot is equipped with a Robotiq 2-finger adaptive gripper. With a fixed or mounted-on-the-wrist camera, computer-vision-enabled applications make the UR10e perfect for pick-and-place and bin-picking applications.
- Reach: 1300 mm
- Payload: 12.5 kg
- Footprint: diameter 190 mm
- Repeatability: ±0.05 mm, with payload
- Equipped with sensitive force & torque sensor
- Our end-effector: Robotiq 2-finger adaptive gripper
- Weight: 33.5 kg
The arm is equipped with 2D and 3D vision systems backed by powerful AI to fully unlock the potential of the robot to use state-of-the-art algorithms for pattern detection and object recognition, and design smart policies for manipulation tasks and autonomous grasping.