Here’s the challenge: you’ve got 15 months to build a robot that can respond to a radioactive disaster. It has to be able to operate machinery, drive a vehicle and navigate through different environments.
To determine the winner, the robots will face off in a series of elimination competitions.
Think of it as Robot Ninja Warrior — with Philly ready to throw down. Drexel University will lead a ten-school team in the international challenge run by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), according to a release.
The Drexel-led team will compete against six other teams, composed of a mix of organizations from academia and the private sector. Each team received $3 million to develop the robot, with the potential for an additional $1 million, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The winner gets $2 million, says Drexel spokesman Britt Faulstick.
Drexel’s Hubo robots will act as a platform for its teammates to build upon. The team, which Drexel professor Paul Oh put together, includes Columbia University, the University of Delaware, Georgia Institute of Technology, Indiana University, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Ohio State University, Purdue University, Swarthmore College and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Learn more about Drexel’s vision for Hubo and disaster relief here. Here’s a little preview:
Join our growing Slack community
Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!
Donate to the Journalism Fund
Your support powers our independent journalism. Unlike most business-media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational contributions.

This indie site helps Philly riders fight back against SEPTA service cuts

State-run immigrant support offices are stuck in limbo across the mid-Atlantic

Sandbox VR opens its Philly location to bring together gamers IRL
