1. The 6-foot (1.8 m) robot is designed for a variety of search and rescue tasks, and was unveiled to the public on July 11, 2013.
2. In 2013, DARPA program manager Gill Pratt compared the prototype version of Atlas to a small child, saying that "a 1-year-old child can barely walk, a 1-year-old child falls down a lot ... this is where we are right now."
3. In 2014, Atlas robots programmed by six different teams will compete in the DARPA Robotics Challenge. The contest was inspired by the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, and carries a US$2 million prize for the winning team.
4. Additional funds are being allocated to a newly formed team of Team K and Case Western. That team, now known as HKU, will use an ATLAS robot generously donated to it by Hong Kong University to participate in the DRC Trials in December, 2013.
http://engg.hku.hk/home/robotics/hku.htm
Our academics will work with, and against, from the likes of MIT, NASA, Lockheed Martin, University of Kansas and much more, all in all the very pinnacle of robotic science.
So really, what the hell more do we want? We laugh and we snear just because the freaking thing falls? That's how we're supposed to learn for god's sake.
http://www.theroboticschallenge.org/Meet.aspx
