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The ROBOlympic Games
Roland Piquepaille writes "The first International Robot Games, or ROBOlympics, organized by the Robotics Society of America, will take place on March 20th and 21st, 2004 in San Francisco, California. There will be competition for combat and non-combat robots, a World Cup Soccer game, and even a robo-triathlon. More than 400 robots are registered for this robotics competition. And the winners will receive hard cash. Nature tells us the story in 'Robolympics contestants shoot for gold.' More details and references are available in this overview which also includes a very nice photo of two robots, the larger one either fixing or rocking the smaller one. And for your information, ROBOlympics is not sold out. So if you are near San Francisco, it's still time to buy tickets. They cost $15 to $25. Entrance is free for children under 7."
There will be competition for combat and non-combat robots
Does it disturb anyone how much effort is put into building robots designed for distruction? I mean I understand building robots that solve puzzles, and robots that overcome obstacles, but the idea of designing robots primarily for violence kind of bothers me.
Maybe this is a little off topic, but it's an interesting thing to think about.
Entrance is free for children under 7.
Sure.. get the young kids used to seeing robots all over the place so they'll be taken by suprise when SkyNet launces its attack. whoops, my tinfoil hat was slipping there, sorry..
Trolling is a art,
...which looks like it's seen a battle or two already.
The Army reading list
Well... :D
This year in portugal we'll host RoboCup 2004 aswell
Paulo Soska
http://robotwars.com/
Tho they have sucked more as of late.
in San Francisco, California
Will the governor be taking part too?
Free XBox, PS2
The fact that Nature is bringing us this robot story?
MmMmmmm . . . irony.
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Okay, I got Linux installed. So where's the free beer everyone keeps talking about??
One event called Ribbon Climber, in which robots race up a carbon-fibre ribbon, was designed to inspire 'space elevator' technology that might one day lift satellites into orbit.
It's nice to see they added this event in to draw a little more attention to the space elevator. I personally would rather build a robot to compete in that competition than the fighting ones. It may be a little easier, plus, you're helping towards a cause that would benifit us all, not building a robot purely to smash other things (which is still pretty cool).
..shotput event canceled due to fears for viewer's safety
the Bun Hur Linux Cocktail appliance server to help everyone keep their mind on the task at hand [See all the pictures here ] [Since the website is in German, the google translator works well]
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
I think it's a sign that I'm on /. too much.
I shudder at the thought.
i'm on the wtf train...scratch that, i'm DRIVING the wtf train
Its not that funny and certianly not worthly of positive moderation, considering that it has been done to death
I'd rather seem them liven it up by competing in an uneven surface so it would force the designs to be more flexible.
"Thanks to the remote control I have the attention span of a gerbil."
...Human Wars. Robots of superior intelligence build highly aggressive, hugely muscular humans to beat the crap out of one another on RoboTV. Eventually they will evolve to become more intelligent than their creators, and we'll go full circle...maybe :P
http://www.robolympics.net/photos/susan_r2.jpg
they're lookin pretty lifelike...
http://www.robolympics.net/photos/blender.jpg
*snicker*
There was a Techno Games held in England last year. It was really cool cause it wasn't just bots kicking the crap out of each other. They had events such as high-jump, long jump, rope climbing, two-wheeled races, soccer, swimming, rocket-powered races, relay and more.
Some of the bots where truly amazing, especially the rope-climbing ones. I'm not sure if it'll be on this year though, hopefully some of the bots will enter in the ROBOlympics.
"hehe, website" - Homer Simpson
I remember going to 'The First Robot Olympics' in Glasgow, Scotland in 1988/89, still have the Tshirt somewhere. /. at the moment.
A couple of years later I was asked to promote another robot event, run by the same people, but definitely not anything to do with the olympics, as the IOC is very protective about the word Olympics, not surprising given some of the other discussions on
So my suspicion is that the name will have some problems.
In conclusion, my feelings are it's not the first, and it's not the Olympics, but apart from that it's fine.
Shame I can't afford to go over there.
no time, no sig
These fight competition with robots are getting boring. We all know the bot with the lowest gravity, widest wheel, flatest body always win.
We need some more creativity. Like a robot that makes coffee while in battle. Or a robot that talks trash.
Looking ant the photos under the combat area, some robots need a better design, some doesn't looks more than a shoe box, doubt what kind of damage they can do.
sign(c14n(envelop(this)), x509)
i joined a local course for robot building and the timing worked out perfectly for the robolympics so we entered it in the 12lb combat class - it's going to get creamed in the first round - i started a blog that documented the build progress but i'm too scared to post it here - i only have a small bandwidth quota :) - here is a picture though - that's a stool underneath - it's actually very flat for scooping under other bots and can spin rapidly - still going to be decimated in the first 30 seconds though.
Is this going to be like that DARPA road race, where Wired did a 50-page color article on it, and then on race day none of the robots are able to make it as far as a stray shopping cart in a windy parking lot?
it will be a radio controlled wedge shape with a flipping device
it will be low to the ground and built from 2 sheets of 8mm hardened steel with the electronics and servos from a 1993 radio control car
yeah "robotics" but is it really ?
I'm thinking the event will be named something else by the time it becomes the 2nd Annual, since the US Olympic Committee has told them they can't use Olympics in their name.
When I was in high school, we saw the name of the Olympics of the Mind program changed to "Odyssey of the Mind" for the same reason.
What does it mean to wake out of a dream
and be wearing someone else's shorts?
BNL, Born on a Pirate Ship (1998)
Yeah, pollinating is about as close as any of these folks will ever get to biological procreation.
whoo for innovation !
The IOC wants to allow transgenders in the Olympics. Will this competition allow robosexuals?
While conflating trans folk with people who like having sex with robots is offensive.
Nonetheless:
I shudder at the thought.
No need to merely think, when you can see.
Looks more like strangling. Which is typically my feelings about "cute" technology as well.
I'm a mentor for a FIRST Robotics team in Dublin, OH. The robot must score points either through grabbing a bar that's 10 feet in the air (the max height of the robot is 5ft), or pushing kickballs into a bin from which human players can pick them up and shoot them. It may not sound as impressive as the robots in the ROBOlympics, but we had six weeks from the time we learned of this year's goal to when our robot had to be done.
If you're interested in the ROBOlympics but for whatever reason can't travel to it, there should be a FIRST Regional Event near you (this weekend there's one in Brentwood, NY, Hartford, CT, Sacramento, CA, Duluth, GA, Annapolis, MD, and Detroit, MI). There's more for the next several weekends as well. There's also a Championship Event in Atlanta from April 15-17.
Don't worry, you can save it! Start by marrying your sister!
And the winners will receive hard cash
I remember when Olympic sport was strictly amateur.
... a very nice photo of two robots, the larger one either fixing or rocking the smaller one.
Is it just me or is someone confusing a person in a Stormtrooper outfit with a robot?
My money is on the Red Rock'em sock'em robot. The blue one is a punk!
I am the lord of the pun. Dance Knave!
The quick succession of the ROBOlympics following on the heels of the unsuccessful Darpa Grand Challenge reminds me of the way Hanna Barbara tried to resurect the fervor of the fizzled Wacky Races with the even more miserable Scooby Doo All Star Laff Olympics.
Even when I was young the predictable slapstick and farce made the Yogi Yahooies, the Scooby Doobies, and the Really Rottens all seem like very poorly programmed robots (and I'm not referring solely to Dyno-Mutt).
Whether this is a harbinger of doom or an off-topic free association rant from the demented mind of a Saturday morning Crunchberry adict is left for the future to pass judgement.
"includes a very nice photo of two robots, the larger one either fixing or rocking the smaller one"
Um... The large "robot" is a guy in a Stormtrooper costume. Surely the writer is joking.
I can't imagine anyone looking at that picture and not knowing EXACTLY what it was.
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Avatar of the God(s) Random
I can't wait for the Gyromite event!
Anyone else see the title and think "Rob Limo's gonna have his own olympics?"
No. Who's Rob Limo?
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DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
Yes. That quote has appeared on the Internet.
In this age of BattleBots and WarriorBots and MyBotCanKillYourBots, it's good to see robots that are actually more than a remote-control car encased in plate steel.
It's also a good lesson for all those budding nerds out there that there's more to robotics than attaching a carbide blade to Bigfoot.
:wq
this overview which also includes a very nice photo of two robots
One of those "robots" is actually a Storm Trooper... namely a retarded Jango Fett clone... not a robot.
C'mon... this is slashdot. You thought you'd get away with that?
Norman Cook's Ode to Sl
Robocup is the real world cup of robot soccer, about 5 years in the running. The 2004 American Open is happening in late April, and it will supposedly be open to the public. And for the really hardcore fans, there's Robocup 2004 in Portugal. See ya there ;) Failing that, you should at least watch a match (4-legged league).
I just can't wait for this stuff to find it's way on national television, so we can hear the heartbreaking defeat or unlikely success stories of robots. Or perhaps that would be "circuit"-breaking defeat?
DATA comments; PROC SORT DATA = comments BY score; PROC DELETE comments >> 1; RUN; DATA entertainment SET commen
"I bet 50 Quatloos on the newcomer!"
As much as everyone knows the technology center of the U.S. is in California, they don't seem to know the proper place for robotics is Detroit. We have some high-tech companies here, along with some good schools including U of M and OU which hosts the IGVC every year, and we've got a far lower cost of living. For electromechanical goodies, this is the place to be. When Mr. Kamen wanted to build his mechatronic stuff he didn't go to CA? No, he went to Michigan. Yes, I'm off topic. Yes, this is a blatant plug for my home state. BTW, didn't /. start here?
Sheer brilliance!
For the mouse-impared:
Hope this helps ... :-)
That would be COOL!
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
I hope they contacted the Olympics about this - they're pretty anal when it comes to others using the word "Olympics" and vigorously seek and destroy on it. I remember something about them going after a pizza joint in canada.
_ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
It's not a robot if it's remote controlled. It's an RC toy. A robot should be autonomous and use AI to control itself. That's a totally different technological problem.
It looks like the Stormtroopers learned their lesson about cuteness after dealing with the Ewoks. That AIBO had better talk or it is gonna be one fucked up little puppy.
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"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
This time do no accept anyone from the land of Robonia, 'cuz that's the name that someone just made up on the spot..
Even though Bender is great and all... him having another sex operation would ruin all of his circuits completely
------------ Internet? Is that thing still around? H.J. Simpson
...the ROBOlympics are being sued by the Olympics for use of the suffix lympics.
...What are you going to do now?"
"I'm going to Epcot Center!"
Why don't we just start letting robots* compete in the Olympics? It would make the Olympics back into the frothing Nationalist and Racist entertainment they were to begin with, before the media corporations got their hands on it. Although to do so with a different bent - instead of nazi aryans vs. the world(1936 Berlin) or whatever, it would be Humanity vs it's creations: the machines.
I think when you can have a robot that not only can run the triathalon, but can navigate a random trail without someone on remote control, and do so in timed trials against humans, then and only then will this be significant.
*Obviously there must be some restriction on what a "robot" should be. how about, independant, and intelligent in some way? how about the robot has to be designed by machines(evolution processes, etc)?
this should make very clear which sports are trivial and which are not, (ie, Pole Vault will be difficult, whereas Javelin throw will not be.) when I see a humanoid robot run and throw himself 3000 feet into the air so they can just happen to fall over a bar, and then not destroy themselves upon landing...I'll start watching the olympics, at least until the commercialism involved drives me away again.
How about wrestling? A machine that can within the rules of wrestling pin a human being(perhaps with restriction that it must be humanoid,2 arms 2 legs and a head)? Or perhaps there will be entirely new sports gained from this! When robots begin to play soccer, then some sort of magnet-supported free-fall soccer might be more interesting, etc.
And hell, we could use that to get the companies out in the forefront as far as sponsorship goes. It's about time we had the Timex Ironman Triathalon team and the GM Wrestling team. We could have the following as a potential outcome:
GOLD: USA
SILVER: WALMART ROBOTICS
BRONZE: CANADA
etc
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This is a great program, and the kids are getting so much out of it. We're now going to the finals in Atlanta, but <shameless plug> we need to raise money! If you or anybody you know appreciates the value of this program and wants to support your local community and proactively help get kids interested in science technology, please send me an email at "drobo at axonchisel dot net" and I can tell you how you can get involved and be a sponsor! </shameless plug> This is 100% serious, we're on a relatively short time frame, and any amount of help is appreciated.
And if you live in San Francisco, check out KRON-4 news tonight (Thursday) at 5pm! They're doing an exclusive story on our robotics team!
Moderators show your support for our team by modding up this post!
Bite my shiny metal medal!
sigfault (core dumped)
IIRC the first robo-olympics event was in Edinburgh about 14 or 15 years ago and it also was an international event. I've still got the programme (nah, not "program") around somewhere.
I attended the world's first Robot Olympics in Edinburgh, 1992. The following year it was held in France ISTR.
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This is not new. As usual, the Murricans think they got there first
## NB: Comment here
And why does he have his own Olympics? Are we that short of media-blitz sporting events? Does this have something to do with our esteemed site admin CmdrTaco?
:(
Seriously, when I read the headline, I thought it was Rob Olympics. Geek --
Is this just more of that BattleBot-style radio-controlled crap? There should be a law against calling anything under human (or even animal!) control being called a robot.
Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K.
...two robots, the larger one either fixing or rocking the smaller one
These are not the droids your looking for.
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