Penn will now build robots for the army. The United States Army Laboratory has awarded a five-year, $27 million grant to the School of Engineering and Applied Science to create autonomous, intelligent robots designed to learn from and adapt to challenging environments. The robots will be charged with assisting humans in tasks like hostage rescue, gathering information in the wake of terrorist attacks or natural disasters, and humanitarian missions. Penn will lead the Army Research Laboratory's Distributed and Collaborative Intelligent Systems and Technology (DCIST) Collaborative Research Alliance, working alongside MIT, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and faculty members from the University of California–San Diego, the University of California–Berkeley, and the University of Southern California. The researchers will focus on advancing the field of distributed intelligence and learning, building a cohesive team of robots, sensors, and humans.