Google Finally does the right thing in regards to the DARPA DRC Robotics Challenge!

They did two things right by the way.

First they allowed team SCHAFT to compete in the DRC Finals! The rumor for months was that they where not going to let them compete.

Then they moved team SCHAFT to a self funded Track D team. Which then frees up funding for other teams that need the funding.

"Team SCHAFT, the highest-scoring team at the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) Trials in December 2013, has elected to switch to the self-funded Track D of the program. The team was recently acquired by Google Inc."

"Team SCHAFT’s move frees funds for DARPA to support additional teams to compete in the DRC Finals. DARPA will now include on the list of DRC Trials finalists Teams THOR, ViGIR, and KAIST, which each earned eight points in the DRC Trials. Teams THOR and ViGIR are each eligible for up to $500K of DARPA funding. Team KAIST, which is already part of Track D, will continue as a self-funded team."

Press release from DARPA.

I am glad that Google has finally did the right thing on both decision. It made no sense for Google to pull SCHAFT out of the finals and it also made no sense for Google to take DARPA money for team SCHAFT as 2 million dollars is a drop in the ocean for Google.

I also applaud DARPA for getting the funding to teams that actually need the money.

Previous blog posts on what was going on.

Google pulls team SCHAFT. 

Google should not take DARPA money.