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NOVA: Rise of the Robots

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Team Metal Rebel's HUBO turns a valve.
DARPA

Wednesday, February 24 at 8PM on MPB TV

Machines are everywhere. They run our factory assembly lines and make our coffee. But Robots – machines with human-like capabilities – have long been the stuff of science fiction. Until now. Fueled by an ambitious DARPA challenge, the race is on to design a robot that can replace humans in disaster relief situations. Follow the robots – and the engineers that program them – as they strive to make their way out of the lab and into the real world. But how capable are they, really? How close are we to a future where humanoid robots are part of our everyday lives? And what are the implications of a future with robots that can do a human’s job? NOVA investigates the cutting-edge technologies that are advancing robotics as never before… and the enormous challenges that the robots still face.