Innovations & technologies

DARPA Wants to Make Underground Maps on the Fly



Through the program, DARPA aims to develop a versatile technology that military personnel and first responders can use to better understand underground environments. Such systems could lead to breakthroughs in infrastructure inspection, mining, construction and archeology, it said.

The competition is divided into two parts: a systems track and a software track. Systems participants must build technologies that can navigate a physical test course while software teams would demonstrate products in a simulated environment.

Teams must prove their technologies’ worth in three different environments—underground tunnels, caves and urban infrastructure like subway systems—with scores based on speed, maneuverability, mapping accuracy and object identification. The program includes one-off demonstrations in each environment, and a final event that tests systems in all three spaces at once.

DARPA expects to award some $30 million to fund additional competition participants, and winners will receive an additional $4 million in prize money. Self-funded teams are also allowed to enter the contest.