When we imagine the robots of the future , they often look and move like humans , standing up on two legs and using a pair of arms to grab and move objects . NASA 's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is working on a different kind of robot for disaster response that 's designed to move like an ape . Headless but covered with seven cameras that act as `` eyes , '' the RobotSimian has four identical limbs that do double duty as arms and legs . Together , they ably move the robot across rough terrain and rubble but can also pick up and manipulate objects . It has wheels it can coast on if the surface is smooth enough . The RoboSimian is JPL 's final entry into the DARPA Robotics Challenge , a 27-month-long competition among some of the world 's top robotic talent to create an emergency response robot . In situations such as a nuclear disaster , one of these robots could go into environments too dangerous for human rescue workers and execute simple tasks such as lifting debris off survivors or turning off a valve . In June , RoboSimian and up to 18 other finalists will have to make their way through an obstacle course that simulates eight common scenarios . Each robot will attempt to drive a car , move across rubble , use a tool and climb stairs , all without a human controlling it . DARPA says the final competitors should be as competent as a 2-year-old child . The winning team will receive a $ 2 million prize . JPL used leftover parts from RoboSimian to create another robot called Surrogate . The more traditional upright robot has a flexible spine , head and two arms . While better at manipulating objects , Surrogate ran on tracks and was n't as adept at traversing the complicated terrain that is common in a disaster . After considering both candidates , the team decided to take RoboSimian to the finals . One trade-off is that RoboSiman is slower than many other competitors . JPL 's team is working with the University of California , Santa Barbara , and Caltech to increase the robot 's walking speed . `` It is intentionally the tortoise relative to the other hares in the competition . We feel that a very stable and deliberate approach suites our technical strengths and provides a model for one vital element of the 'ecosystem ' of robots that we expect to be deployed to disaster scenarios in the future , '' said JPL 's Brett Kennedy , who is supervisor of the Robotic Vehicles and Manipulators Group . The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is most known for designing robotics for space exploration , such as the Mars rovers . But the DARPA competition was an opportunity for the JPL group to take its existing robotics research and compare approaches directly to other talented teams . NASA also has a long history of taking technology developed for space exploration and using it here on Earth . RoboSimian software was influenced by programs used to control the Mars rovers . In both cases , the system is designed to let the robots work as autonomously as possible when communication with a human operator is dropped . Spotty communications are common in disaster scenarios ( and on Mars ) . The team has thought hard about all aspects of RoboSimian 's design , even making sure it has the right look . `` We included industrial designers in the team in an effort to create a robot that looked professional rather than either threatening or overly cute , '' said Kennedy . `` Basically , we wanted the perceptual equivalent of a St . Bernard . '' While JPL is focused on perfecting the ape-like design for Earth-bound applications for now , this is just one stop in the circular life of NASA technology . `` We intend to spin the technologies developed for the terrestrial RoboSimian back out to applications in space , '' said Kennedy . `` These tasks include assembly and maintenance of orbital structures ; exploration of low-gravity bodies like asteroids , comets , and moons ; exploration of caves and cliffs on Mars or our moon ; and even preconstruction of habitats wherever humans care to venture in the solar system . ''
Jet Propulsion Laboratory 's DARPA Robotics Challenge has designed the ape-like robot NASA . The disaster-response robot is competing in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory finals . RoboSimian has up to 18 limbs , no head and multiple cameras .