Why bipedal in particular? We humans are stuck with that form factor because we find it worth having hands but evolved from tetrapods. A robot could have any number of arms or legs (or other features: there are interesting hybrid bots with legs+wheels or legs+propellers). Does the bipedal form happen to be a particularly good choice for various missions?

Because DARPA’s main objective, for a long time, is to foment the development of a robot that can work in a human environment and use human tools, drive vehicles, and so forth.

@PatrickLD Thanks, didn't know that. Having a computer drive a vehicle by operating its steering wheel and pedals using a bipedal robot body with artificial hands and feet seems crazy to me -- like printing out your emails and faxing them to yourself -- but I'll take your word that Darpa thinks it's an important capability for whatever reasons.

@ML https://www.darpa.mil/program/darpa-robotics-challenge

“The primary technical goal of the DRC is to develop human-supervised ground robots capable of executing complex tasks in dangerous, degraded, human-engineered environments. Competitors in the DRC are developing robots that can utilize standard tools and equipment commonly available in human environments, ranging from hand tools to vehicles.”

So... does the "officially" mean that if they have secretly integrated it, someone exposed them, but they continue to deny it despite all evidence, this will resolve "no"?