Dec 26, 2013 08:47 AM EST
Google Company Earns 27 Points to Win Robotics Challenge Trials

Schaft Inc. won the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) Trials this week, after besting 15 other humanoid robots at the Homestead-Miami speedway.

Schaft was recently acquired by Google according to DigitalTrends.com.

The Japanese-based company was put through trials that includes eight events designed to simulate the type of jobs a robot would have to complete if a disaster were to occur, according to ABC News.

The event's, which took place in just two days, had three objectives where a team could earn one point each. Additional points were provided for robots who could perform a task without assistance from a human, according to ABC News.

Schaft earned a total of 27 points, whereas IHMC Robotics finished in second place after earning 20 points.

Five of the events included just going from point A to point B, but each one involved something different like climbing a ladder, opening doors, or removing debris from in front of them to continue moving, according to ABC. One event included driving a vehicle through an obstacle course.

The last three tasks were "hands-on" events, which involved unrolling a hose, turning valves, and cutting a triangle in a piece of drywall.

"On average, they did a lot better than I thought they would," said Tony Stentz, the leader of team Tartan Rescue, which finished in third place, when asked about his competition, according to ABC News.

Teams that finished in the top eight at the DRC Trials received $1 million each from DARPA to improve their creations for the DRC finals, which is set to take place around the same time in 2014.

During the DRC finals however, each robot will be asked to perform tasks in succession rather in separate events.

"I think you're going to see teams work on improving their speed," said Stentz. "They're going to work on making these robots even more autonomous and less reliant on their operators."

Sixteen teams competed at the Florida-based racetrack.

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