Posts tagged Products
TORC Releases OEM Version of Popular SafeStop Wireless Emergency Stop System
OEM SafeStop enables integration with third-party operator interfaces and robotic controllers
BLACKSBURG, VA (September 29, 2011) – TORC’s popular wireless emergency stop system for unmanned vehicles, SafeStop, is now available in an OEM version. This version opens the way for robotic developers and system integrators to more easily integrate the emergency stop functionality into their own enclosures and control interfaces. In the past, in-house development was the only option. Customers will receive an integration-ready transmitter board, while the receiver unit is still provided in its assembled enclosure.
Similar to the retail version, the OEM SafeStop supports pairing multiple transmitters with a single vehicle-mounted receiver and is available in all of the same frequency options: 340-400 MHz, 900 MHz, 1.3 and 2.4 GHz, with an additional 3.4 GHz frequency option only available in the OEM model. The transmitter board is 128mm by 88.9mm and can be controlled and monitored over the primary RS-232/422 interface. Emergency stops are executed by interrupting a current loop input on the transmitter board.
As part of the continued improvements to the Ground Unmanned Support Surrogate (GUSS) systems, the OEM SafeStop transmitter board was recently integrated with QinetiQ’s Tactical Robotic Controller (TRC) via the Ground Vehicle Control Module. This allows for one of the buttons on the TRC to function as the SafeStop emergency stop kill switch, eliminating the need for a dedicated handheld unit and wrapping that functionality into the lightweight, wearable operator control unit.
“Customers want to simplify and consolidate operator controls. Having a stand-alone transmitter unit for the emergency stop function can sometimes create usability issues for the operator,” says Andrew Culhane, the company’s business development manager. “It’s easy to designate a safety operator during development and system testing, but as more autonomous vehicles get fielded it’s increasingly difficult to separate emergency safety from system operation. The OEM SafeStop allows our customers to merge emergency stop functionality with new and existing operator interfaces.”
Visit the SafeStop Web page for more information, and contact TORC with additional questions or to obtain pricing.
ABOUT TORC
TORC enables engineers to rapidly integrate robotic systems through a suite of modular, customizable products. TORC’s Robotic Building Blocks product line is used by leading academic, commercial and government organizations to shorten the development process, lower costs and mitigate risks. These products have been used on more than 100 mobile robots ranging from 15 pounds to 15 tons. TORC provides solutions for drive-by-wire conversion, emergency stop, power management, autonomous navigation and operator control. For more information, visit http://www.torcrobotics.com.
TORC, TORC Robotics, SafeStop and Robotic Building Blocks are trademarks of TORC.
NFB Blind Driver Challenge Team Chooses TORC’s ByWire XGV as Base Research Platform
Next Generation of Blind-Drivable Vehicles Using TORC Robotic Building Blocks Product Line
BLACKSBURG, VA (October 13, 2010) – TORC, a leading provider of modular unmanned vehicle technologies, is pleased to announce its products are being used in developing the next generation of NFB Blind Driver Challenge vehicles. The ByWire XGV vehicle, driven by a blind driver, will be demonstrated during the 2011 Rolex 24 at the Daytona International Speedway.
Mark Riccobono, Executive Director of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) Jernigan Institute, says, “The National Federation of the Blind issued our Blind Driver Challenge to encourage partnerships with universities and technology manufacturers to develop nonvisual interface technologies that convey essential information about the driving environment to a blind driver in real-time. Having nonvisual access to this information will empower the blind driver to use his/her capacity to safely and independently operate an automobile. On January 29, as part of the pre-race activities of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the resulting evolution of nonvisual driving interface technologies will be demonstrated using a Ford Escape that has been converted to the next generation blind-driver vehicle. A blind driver will independently operate the vehicle, in front of tens of thousands of spectators, to demonstrate that a blind person can safely perform various driving functions. This monumental milestone that brings us ever closer to the development of a road-ready vehicle for the blind is a direct result of the partnership between the National Federation of the Blind, Virginia Tech, and TORC.”
The NFB Blind Driver Challenge was taken on by Dr. Dennis Hong and the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa) at Virginia Tech, which successfully demonstrated a prototype blind-drivable dune buggy in May of 2009. In June 2010, RoMeLa partnered with TORC to develop the next generation of NFB Blind Driver Challenge vehicles. New and improved versions of RoMeLa’s nonvisual interfaces will be integrated into a ByWire XGV; TORC’s modified Ford Escape Hybrid with its ByWire drive-by-wire conversion modules, SafeStop wireless emergency stop system and PowerHub power distribution modules. The ByWire XGV, which is based around TORC’s success in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge, provides a thoroughly tested vehicle configuration from which the team can add more advanced technologies.
“The ByWire XGV base vehicle has enabled the RoMeLa team to focus on the research and development of nonvisual interfaces for the blind. We have chosen the ByWire XGV for its performance, ease of integration with our system, and most importantly, for its reliability as safety is most important. By leveraging TORC’s commercial-off-the-shelf products, our team of graduate and undergraduate students will enable the blind to drive at the 2011 Rolex 24 and beyond,” said Dr. Dennis Hong, Director of RoMeLa.
While many autonomous vehicle technologies will be used, the goal is not to develop an autonomous vehicle to drive the blind, but rather a vehicle that enables a blind person to drive. The sensing and perception data that would normally be used to autonomously carry out the appropriate driving behaviors will instead be passed to the blind driver through several nonvisual interfaces. The blind driver can then reason about the environment, make control decisions, and directly execute these decisions from behind the wheel. The novel interfaces being developed at RoMeLa include DriveGrip, a pair of vibrating gloves that relay steering information, SpeedStrip, a vibration-based device that relays speed information, and AirPix, a device that uses compressed airflow patterns to create tactile images.
For more information about the NFB Blind Driver Challenge visit www.blinddriverchallenge.org and to learn more about RoMeLa visit www.romela.org.
About TORC
TORC enables engineers to rapidly integrate robotic systems through a suite of modular, customizable products. TORC’s Robotic Building Blocks product line is used by leading academic, commercial and government organizations to shorten the development process, lower costs and mitigate risks. These products have been used on over a hundred mobile robots ranging from 15 pounds to 15 tons. TORC provides solutions for drive-by-wire conversion, emergency stop, power management, autonomous navigation and operator control. The ByWire XGV, a drive-by-wire Hybrid Escape with integrated SafeStop safety and PowerHub distribution systems, provides an integration-ready base platform for autonomous system development. For more information, visit www.torctech.com.
TORC, Robotic Building Blocks, ByWire XGV, SafeStop, and PowerHub are trademarks of TORC.
Additional Information on the NFB Blind Driver Challenge
TORC Announces Next Generation SafeStop Wireless Emergency Stop for Robotic Systems
Enhancements include multiple frequency options, web configuration interface, and ruggedness for harsh operating environments.
BLACKSBURG, VA (July 14, 2010) – TORC, a leading provider of robotic building blocks for developers and integrators of robotic systems, announces the release of the next generation SafeStop, a failsafe emergency safety system for robotic vehicles. The SafeStop is the industry’s leading off-the-shelf wireless emergency stop used by government labs, research universities, robotics developers and system integrators on a wide range of ground and surface vehicles.
The next generation SafeStop is available for use on 340-400 MHz, 900 MHz, 1.3 GHz or 2.4GHz frequencies, providing operational compatibility for international markets and restricted bands. A user-friendly web configuration interface has been integrated to allow users to customize the SafeStop for their specific application without installing any software.
With robotic systems transitioning to industrial and military environments, the next generation SafeStop has been ruggedized to include stronger enclosures, connectors, antennas, switches and switch guards, as well as improved sealing for water resistance ratings up to IP67. This ruggedness is designed for operation in harsh environments found in military, mining, agriculture, and manufacturing. Additional enhancements include wider input voltage ranges and RAM mount compatibility.
“Our customers have given us outstanding feedback to identify the evolving safety requirements in industrial and military robotic markets. I appreciate this feedback and I am pleased that the next generation SafeStop product line will meet their needs,” Michael Fleming, CEO of TORC.
The SafeStop is one of the many robotic building blocks that TORC offers for customers to rapidly integrate and deploy autonomous robotic systems. During development and operation, it is essential to integrate an independent wireless emergency stop system in order to reliably place a robotic system in a failsafe state at any time.
This stop functionality is critical in protecting the investment of time, money and resources. To learn more about the next generation SafeStop wireless emergency safety for unmanned vehicles and autonomous robotic systems, visit http://www.torctech.com/products/safestop.
About TORC
TORC enables engineers to rapidly integrate robotic systems through a suite of modular, customizable products. TORC’s Robotic Building Block products are used by leading academic, commercial and government organizations to shorten the development process, lower costs and mitigate risks. These products have been used on over a hundred mobile robots ranging from 15 pounds to 15 tons. TORC provides solutions for drive-by-wire conversion, emergency stop, power management, autonomous navigation, and operator control. To learn more, visit http://www.torctech.com.
JAUS Toolkit Trial Now Available with National Instruments LabVIEW Robotics Software
BLACKSBURG, Va. – TORC (www.torctech.com), a leading provider of robotics technologies for unmanned and autonomous vehicles, has announced that an evaluation version of its JAUS Toolkit™ is now included with National Instruments’ LabVIEW Robotics software.
National Instruments released LabVIEW Robotics 2009 earlier this year, providing a development platform for designing robotic control systems. The JAUS Toolkit is available as an option during installation with the LabVIEW Robotics Module and LabVIEW Robotics Bundle.
With the congressional mandate that one-third of all military vehicles be unmanned by 2015, TORC is helping to prepare the robotics industry with a toolkit designed to simplify the development of JAUS (Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems) interoperable robotic systems. Given the problems of various proprietary systems being incompatible with each other, JAUS was set as the open messaging standard for communications between elements of unmanned systems.
Now, with the JAUS Toolkit, developers using LabVIEW can implement JAUS without having to develop complex coding. Capitalizing on the strengths of LabVIEW’s intuitive graphical programming environment, the JAUS Toolkit simplifies complex JAUS messages into drag-and-drop components, helping to lower costs and development risks with standards compliant JAUS code.
“As more organizations adopt the JAUS standard, they will be seeking more intuitive development tools that empower their engineers without the steep learning curve,” said Andrew Culhane, business development manager at TORC. “TORC’s JAUS Toolkit is the add-on that facilitates JAUS interoperable robotics development within the LabVIEW programming environment.”
TORC has pioneered the use of LabVIEW in developing JAUS interoperable unmanned systems, payloads and components. The company used an earlier version of the JAUS Toolkit as the lead software developer for DARPA Urban Challenge finalist Team VictorTango. Working with Virginia Tech, the team developed the only JAUS interoperable autonomous vehicle to successfully complete the race. It has since used versions of the JAUS Toolkit on numerous projects, from internal product development to deployments for government and commercial clients.
To learn more about LabVIEW Robotics 2009, visit www.ni.com/robotics. A 30-day evaluation version of the JAUS Toolkit is also available by request at www.jaustoolkit.com.
About TORC Technologies
TORC is a leading robotics engineering and product development company focusing on unmanned and autonomous vehicle systems. TORC commercializes intelligent robotic technologies into modular, interoperable, off-the-shelf products that enable customers to rapidly integrate and deploy unmanned solutions. To learn more, visit www.torctech.com.
CompactRIO, LabVIEW, National Instruments, NI and ni.com are trademarks of National Instruments.
TORC Provides Unmanned Industry with Integration-Ready Robotic Ground Vehicle
ByWire XGV™ Experimental Ground Vehicle Platform Provides Jump Start for Autonomous Research and Development
BLACKSBURG, VA (Dec. 4, 2009) – TORC Technologies, a leading developer of robotic technologies for unmanned and autonomous vehicles, is offering unmanned systems researchers, developers and integrators in the ground vehicle market a faster way to develop and test new technologies.
TORC’s ByWire XGV™ is a JAUS interoperable, drive-by-wire controlled ground vehicle platform which utilizes the Ford Escape Hybrid as the base vehicle. The XGV comes with built-in safety components and an optional onboard power management system. This off-the-shelf, integration-ready platform has been purchased by various universities and robotics companies to have on hand for rapid integration and testing of their autonomous technologies. The platform design is based on TORC’s success as a finalist in the DARPA Urban Challenge and has been proven during thousands of hours of development, testing and operation.
ByWire XGV makes it possible to bypass the drive-by-wire conversion and jump right into the integration phase of more advanced unmanned technologies. By allowing engineering teams to remain focused on higher level technology development, the XGV eliminates the need to spend time, money and resource commitments reinventing an already proven system.
“To develop the next level of unmanned ground vehicle technologies, researchers need a reliable, cost-effective drive-by-wire platform from which they can build upon,” says Andrew Culhane, TORC’s Business Development Manager. “In the full-sized unmanned ground vehicle market this is especially important since large amounts of time and money can be sunk into developing an in-house solution that may be pulling resources away from working on the core technology under development.
“The ByWire XGV is a direct solution to the ‘base platform problem’ experienced by so many in the unmanned systems community. As a rapid go-to-market platform with a great deal of flexibility in its application, the XGV is ready to integrate higher level technologies.”
ByWire XGV focuses on reliability, safety, cost-effectiveness and performance. The conversion package includes three core areas: drive-by-wire (ability for a computer to perform both closed-loop and open-loop control of the vehicle), safety (a fail-safe emergency stop system) and power (set of flexible options for supplying power to any auxiliary equipment).
ByWire XGV utilizes the hybrid Escape’s proven vehicle technologies, tapping into electronic controls, available battery power, and all wheel drive for on-road/off-road ruggedness and flexibility of application. Controlled through a unified Ethernet interface, the drive-by-wire conversion is seamlessly integrated with the vehicle’s factory electronics, providing electronic control of the steering, throttle, shifter, braking and signals. In addition, information such as vehicle speed, warnings and errors can be monitored.
The XGV includes an integrated SafeStop™, TORC’s wireless emergency stop system, providing temporary pause and emergency shutdown functionality. Manual stop buttons are mounted inside and outside of the vehicle for additional safety. A key benefit of the XGV is the availability of onboard DC and AC power, eliminating the need for adding additional power sources to the system. The optional PowerHub™ conditioning and distribution modules allow for use of up to 6 kW of managed power, which is configurable over Ethernet through a web browser.
“The demand for unmanned ground vehicles capable of removing humans from the dull, dirty, and dangerous jobs of the world continually increases as the effectiveness of unmanned systems improve,” Culhane says. “To meet this growing demand, research and development efforts have increased to build up critical technology.”
Examples of such critical areas include sensor range and effectiveness, motion planning techniques in dynamic and unpredictable environments, behavioral architectures, and unobtrusive yet powerful human-computer interfaces. Other important challenges facing unmanned system developers include lowering cost while improving reliability and robustness.
“Achieving all these goals is necessary to boost adoption rates of unmanned vehicles by government and commercial markets,” Culhane says. “Too often these goals are not achieved, however, due to the unavailability of a reliable, cost-effective, and flexible base platform. Too much time and money is put into solving a problem that is not associated with the actual technology under development. The XGV meets this need for the unmanned ground vehicle community.”
To learn more about ByWireXGV, including video demonstrations, please visit www.ByWireXGV.com.
ABOUT TORC TECHNOLOGIES
TORC is a leading robotics engineering and product development company focusing on unmanned and autonomous vehicle systems. The company commercializes intelligent robotic technologies into modular, interoperable, off-the-shelf products that enable customers to rapidly integrate and deploy unmanned solutions. To learn more, visit www.torctech.com.