On May 5-6, Korea won the championship at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Robotics Challenge. During the event, Koreans competed against other leaders in the robotics industry from around the world, including the United States, Japan, and Germany. The event first began in 2013 to deploy robots in a catastrophic situation, after Japan’s Fukushima nuclear meltdown in 2011.

Korea participated in the challenge with DRC HUBO 2, which is an improved version of the first humanoid robot in Korea. HUBO was created in 2014 by Professor Oh Jun-ho of mechanical engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). It is also the first Korean robot that walks with its two feet. HUBO completed all eight tasks within 45 minutes, such as driving a vehicle, closing valves, and walking up stairs.

Among the 24 teams, eight used Korean robots: five of them were from other countries and they took part in the challenge with Korean robots. Oh said, “I feel so proud because I could show the world that Korea surpassed world-renowned professionals in robotics engineering, such as United States research teams.” This event has made sure that Korea is already advanced in the robotics industry.

Tony Jang
Staff Reporter
(tonyjang@timescore.co.kr)