Finalists chosen in robotic competition

They move slowly and fall down a lot but believe it or not, these are some of the most advanced robots in the world.

A two day robotics challenge in Miami Florida pitted the worlds best robots against each other- competing in tasks designed to help humans in natural or man-made disasters.

Tasks like opening doors... or climbing up stairs. Things that may seem simple, but that for a two-legged robot using sensors and cameras to negotiate its environment, are extremely difficult.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) CHRISTOPHER MCQUIN, NASA'S CHIEF ENGINEER FOR HARDWARE DEVELOPMENT, SAYING:

"People take for granted how we comply to a mechanism or to our environment and just adapt to it in real time. A robot is really cutting edge to be able to do that, to balance to move out of the way when your model in your head of the environment doesn't quite match the physical reality."

Eight teams were chosen to move on to next year's finals.

Until then, teams will tinker and t