An Australian robotics team will test itself against the world’s best as it explores a series of underground courses built inside a massive cave in the United States. The six autonomous robots from CSIRO’s digital research arm Data61 must locate and report back on items and environmental conditions in three courses built inside the Louisville Mega Cavern in Kentucky. “In the world of robotics, these challenges are like our Olympics,” CSIRO group leader Navinda Kottege said. Experts from around the world have spent three years “pushing the boundaries of autonomous robotic technology” as part of the Subterranean challenge, run by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. “To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time any Australian team has made it to a DARPA Challenge final, and we’re very proud to showcase Australia’s capabilities in this area on the world stage,” Kottege said. Teams are eliminated each …