DARPA Subterranean Challenge: Teams of Robots Compete to Explore Underground Worlds

This weekend, nine teams of robots (and their humans) will make their way to the Edgar Experimental Mine in Idaho Springs, Colo. DARPA SubT is a challenge on a similar scale to DARPA's incredible Robotics Challenge that took place in 2015--a series of competitions based on real-world needs, attracting some of the best roboticists in the world with sophisticated robotic hardware to match. The integration exercise (which is closed to anyone but the participating teams, we definitely asked) is just the first step in a challenge that will involve both a virtual competition and a competition for physical systems, each with multiple circuits culminating in a final that wraps everything together into one epic event. Some teams will get over US $4 million in DARPA funding, and the prize pool for the finals is up to $2 million. We'll be following SubT through multiple stages all the way until the final event, which is schedule for August of 2021.