Number 5 is alive!
Japanese company Schaft Inc. has won the DARPA (not DHARMA. That’s a different company. And it’s fictional) Robotics Challenge Trials in Miami. Informally known as the Robot Olympics, the Robotics Challenge Trials are prestigious contest which pits robot against robot in a series of tests to determine which humanoid from around the world is the Harder, Better, Faster and Stronger.
Entrants were put through a series of eight challenges, with each Mechwarrior robot being required to drive a car, walk across difficult terrain, climb a ladder, clear debris, open doors, cut a hole in a wall, turn a valve, unravel a hose and generally spell doom for mankind at the cold steel hands of our incumbent mechanical overlords. Schaft (He’s a complicated robot, and no one understands him but his builder. Schaft!) scored 27 out of a possible 32 points, earning bonus points for completing tasks without human intervention, and not turning against its master and going on a robot killing spree.
The top eight scoring teams were given $1 million to upgrade and improve their robots (presumably with laser guns and dangerous levels of self-awareness) before returning to compete in the finals in late 2014. Schaft is owned by Google – just one of the suite of robotics companies the tech giant has acquired over the past few years – and so they’ll likely have plenty more robo-cash to play with in the lead up to the finals.
Via ABC News
