Italian Institute of Technology (IIT)
2015
ITALY

WALK-MAN is the humanoid robot for emergencies designed and built by the Italian Institute of Technology as part of a research project funded by the European Union in 2013. The robot is 1.85 meters tall, weighs approximately 70 kilos and is controlled remotely by a human operator in the manner of an avatar, via a virtual interface and a sensorized suit.

WALK-MAN was the only Italian robot to have participated in the DARPA Robotics Challenge held in Los Angeles in 2015: an international competition between roboticists promoted by the Advanced Research Agency of the US Department of Defense with the aim of defining standards technology of robots to be used in natural or man-made disaster situations. During the challenge, the robot faced a scenario inspired by the Fukushima nuclear accident, testing its movement and manipulation abilities, as well as driving a Ranger-type vehicle.

In 2016 WALK-MAN was then used in a real context, in Amatrice, to inspect some buildings damaged by the earthquake and provide information on their stability.