(T)  Darpa had its Robotics Challenge over this weekend in Pomona in Southern California. “Launched in response to a humanitarian need that became glaringly clear during the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, Japan, in 2011, the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) consisted of three increasingly demanding competitions over two years. The goal was to accelerate progress in robotics and hasten the day when robots have sufficient dexterity and robustness to enter areas too dangerous for humans and mitigate the impacts of natural or man-made disasters.”

“The DRC Finals competition (this year) challenged participating robotics teams and their robots to complete a difficult course of eight tasks relevant to disaster response, among them driving alone, walking through rubble, tripping circuit breakers, turning valves and climbing stairs. A dozen teams from the United States and another eleven from Japan, Germany, Italy, Republic of Korea and Hong Kong competed in the outdoor competition.”

“Taking first place (this year) and the $2 million in prize money that goes with it is Team Kaist of Daejeon, Republic of Korea, and its robot DRC-Hubo. Coming in second and taking home $1 million is Team IHMC Robotics of Pensacola, Fla., and its robot Running Man. The third-place finisher, earning the $500,000 prize, is Tartan Rescue of Pittsburgh, and its robot CHIMP.”

For more on the DRC, please visit the Darpa Web Site and the Wikipedia Page about DRC.

In addition, a fun video to watch:

Note: The picture above is from Wikipedia: Illustration of a disaster response scenario.

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