A South Korean robotics team has won the Darpa Robotics Challenge. Team Kaist's Hubo humanoid robot defeated 22 others to win the $2 million first prize from the US Department of Defense's Darpa research unit. The robots competed with each other to negotiate an obstacle course, including tasks such as a driving a car and climbing steps. Hubo (seen in action, below) completed all the tasks in 44 minutes 28 seconds. Team IHMC Robotics came second, with Tartan Rescue's Chimp robot third.

The 2015 Challenge, held in Pomona, California, was the first in which robots performed without being tethered. They had an hour to complete a series of tasks. Each team was given two attempts to complete the course, which was designed to mimic the conditions experienced during the 2011 Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in Japan. Many of the robots fell over, drawing laughter and groans from the crowd. The Chimp robot fell, but, to the crowd's delight, managed to get back up and complete the course without human help.



The other tasks facing the robots included opening a door, drilling a hole in a wall, getting out of a car, turning a valve and crossing an area of rubble. Two "mystery" tasks—pulling a lever and pulling a plug out of one socket and putting it into another—were set, neither of which the robots had been prepared for.