An unidentified LS3 team member shoves an LS 3 (Legged Squad Support System) robot that was galloping off course, back on track during a high-speed demonstration in Homestead, Florida on December 20. The device is designed to accompany soldiers and Marines any place they go on foot, helping to carry their gear.

The south Florida city is hosting an international Robotics Challenge Trials this weekend, organized by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The competition, for the creation of robots that can respond to natural and man-made disasters, was created following the 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster in Japan.

After the disaster the Pentagon sent robots designed to disarm improvised explosive devices in Iraq to try to help fix problems at the destroyed reactor in areas highly contaminated by radioactive releases where humans could not work. Reuters/Andrew Innerarity