BU Robotics & Ambient Intelligence Labs, a newly formed undergraduate robotics research group, qualified to participate in ANA Avatar XPRIZE, a global competition with a $10 million prize to develop a robot that can see, hear and interact.

Robotics isn’t the future. It’s the present. So why are we still making movies about robots? Sure, Neill Blomkamp’s Chappie is no ordinary robot — he wears bling. But then again, what robot is...