Korean Team wins Pentagon's First Responder Robot Competition

A Korean university won a contest held by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to create a robot that could act effectively as a first responder during disasters.

The New York Times reports that a team from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology won $2 million for their efforts. Two American organizations rounded out the top three and also won money. Pensacola, FL-based Institute of Human and Machine Cognition came in second and won $1 million. Third place prize of $500,000 went to the Pittsburgh, PA-based National Robotics Engineering Center, which is a part of Carnegie Mellon University.

Although the robots completed an array of varied tasks, their completion was no small feat. The Times reports that it took more than seven hours for the first robot to finish the first portion course. One reason for this is that the contest included weakened wireless strength so that it would mirror the poor infrastructure that would result from an event such as earthquake.

Among the tasks that the robots had to complete were driving a vehicle, opening a door, using a power drill, turning a valve, and climbing stairs.

In a testament to how far robots have yet to go before they are as nimble and capable as humans, falls were quite common.

Teams from around the world participated in the event, including teams from China, Hong Kong, Germany, and Italy.

The robotic first responder competition came about as a result of the Fukushima disaster in 2011, according to the Times. As the waters of the Pacific rushed in on the nuclear plant after an earthquake, the workers there had to flee, which caused the devastation nuclear meltdown that has created a large dead zone inside Japan.

The hope is that with capable robots in place for such situations, similar disasters can be avoided. And if such disasters do occur, the robots will provide an extra tool for governments to assist their citizens.