RoboSimian is an ape-like robot designed and built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The robot competed in the 2013 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Robotics Challenge. The DARPA challenge calls upon competitor bots to complete a series of tasks, including driving a vehicle, using tools and climbing a ladder. RoboSimian uses its four general-purpose limbs and hands for both mobility and manipulation. The hands have yet to be attached to the robot as shown in this image. Multiple points of contact increase stability during operations that range from climbing stairs to turning a valve. The design also allows RoboSimian to reverse direction without reorienting itself. RoboSimian was created to develop ground robots that can work in dangerous, degraded, human-engineered environments.