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Hellish CERBERUS Robots Win DARPA’s Subterranean Challenge by Sneaking Underground

In the making for several months now, DARPA’s Subterranean Challenge finals took place at the Louisville, Kentucky Mega Cavern this month, awarding the winners a total of $5 million and the chance to prove more or less autonomous robots can indeed sneak underground.
CERBERUS robots won DARPA's Subterranean Challenge 7 photos
Photo: DARPA
CERBERUS robots won DARPA's Subterranean ChallengeCERBERUS robots won DARPA's Subterranean ChallengeDARPA ready for the SubT finals next monthSubT robots ready for the finalsSubT robots ready for the finalsSubT robots ready for the finals
The goal of the competition was to find the best solution to problems most of us regular humans are not usually faced with, but military and civilian first responders do happen to come across from time to time. That would be the need to go underground, navigate, and if need be, find stuff.

The DARPA competition comprised several preliminary events, and this September, a number of eight teams went against each other in one of the largest underground environments in America. The job of the robots was to quickly move in this setting in search of planted backpacks, cell phones, and even trapped survivors. The winner of the race was to be awarded a $2 million prize.

That money went to the CERBERUS, a machine developed by the University of Nevada, ETH Zurich, Sierra Nevada Corporation, the University of California, and Flyability, who ended up top of the competition.

CERBERUS stands for CollaborativE walking & flying RoBots for autonomous ExploRation in Underground Settings, and comprises a walking robot for work at ground level, and a flying one that could monitor things from above. An intricate array of sensors, backed by proper programming, aided it in successfully completing its task.

DARPA does not say what exact tasks the machines had to see through, but it did say they proved their worth in tunnel, urban, and cave settings.

As for what happens from now on, it’s anybody’s guess. When the whole SubT thing started, DARPA said it plans to advance the technology needed to overcome issues in “active combat operations or disaster response” taking place underground.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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