Final preparations are being made by 24 robotics teams about to compete for $3.5m (£2.3m) worth of prizes in a Pentagon-backed competition.
Their machines are being challenged to carry out a series of disaster-related tasks in the shortest time possible.
The US Department of Defence’s Darpa research unit will host the event on Friday and Saturday at a location close to Los Angeles, California.
A team from Google was a favourite to win, but has quit the contest.
Read more details here