UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO PROFILE
In just half a century, the University of Waterloo, located at the heart of Canada’s technology hub, has become a leading comprehensive university with more than 36,000 full- and part-time students in undergraduate and graduate programs.
Consistently ranked Canada’s most innovative university, Waterloo is home to advanced research and teaching in science and engineering, mathematics and computer science, health, environment, arts and social sciences. From quantum computing and nanotechnology to clinical psychology and health sciences research, Waterloo brings ideas and brilliant minds together, inspiring innovations with real impact today and in the future.
As home to the world's largest post-secondary co-operative education program, Waterloo embraces its connections to the world and encourages enterprising partnerships in learning, research, and commercialization. With campuses and education centres on four continents, and academic partnerships spanning the globe, Waterloo is shaping the future of the planet.
Find out more about the University of Waterloo at https://uwaterloo.ca/about/who-we-are/waterloo-facts.
Background
The Waterloo RoboHub, a new robotics research and testing facility at the University of Waterloo, is looking to acquire a humanoid robot to add to its heterogeneous fleet of robots. This robot must be capable of performing a wide variety of collaborative tasks, both with other robots and with humans, including lifting objects, walking while sharing a load, and helping to build a shared map of the environment, all while balancing in the face of unknown external disturbances.
The robot’s hardware must have a humanoid appearance (i.e., two 6+ DOF arms with hands or grippers, two 6+ DOF legs with feet, and a head on a 2+ DOF neck), include internal and external sensing (e.g., IMU, force/torque sensors, vision/range cameras, etc.) with on-board sensor processing, and be capable of untethered locomotion with all computational components and power sources located internally.
The robot’s software must be ROS-enabled (ideally running ROS internally), include direct communication and synchronization support (e.g., between robots and/or an indoor positioning system), and use high-speed control loops at the joints with user-access to low-level control features (e.g., high-speed joint torque control).
A detailed dynamic model of the robot (with kinematic/inertial parameters) for use in one or more of the common simulators is also required, with a good workflow between simulation and hardware execution.
The robot must be delivered to the University of Waterloo within 6 months from date of order.
The budget for the project is capped at $1,000,000 CAD (= Net Selling Price), plus HST.
This acquisition is made possible in partnership with the Canadian Foundation for Innovation:
This Request for Proposal is issued in concert with funding in part from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI), and should follow all CFI Guidelines and Policies – please refer to pages 3 and 4 of the RFP document.
Questions regarding this Request for Proposal may be submitted in writing (via email) and must be directed to the RFP Contact Person as follows:
Christine Wagner, CPPB, CSCP, Senior Buyer - Procurement and Contract Services
Email: cpwagner@uwaterloo.ca or, procure@uwaterloo.ca
