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Robot To Slowly Run Ironman Triathlon Course
itwbennett writes "A robot designed by Panasonic will be running the course of this year's Ironman World Championship triathlon next month. But don't expect it to win. The diminutive robot won't even be competing in the actual race. It will start the Ironman course Oct. 24 and finish in about a week (168 hours), according to its designer. 'Evolta's height is just one-tenth of a grown man, so we figured out that it would take it 10 times more time,' Panasonic design engineer Tomotaka Takahashi told Reuters."
lol
Actually, count me unimpressed. Googling for mAh numbers shows that Evolta comes in third behind Eneloop and Energizer rechargeables.
Don't click that link.
As far as this "robot" is concerned, it is a toy. It needs floats to swim, training wheels on it's bicycle, and it runs in a hamster wheel. Heck, it's not even the same robot running the three legs of the Ironman! This has nothing to do with robotics. It is a publicity stunt for Panasonic's Evolta batteries.
Regarding the Ironman triathalon. I agree with my brother. They should put the swimming last. It would be a different race if you either finish, or die trying.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
warning: goatse
DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
Inbred royalty you say?
http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2006/04/george-w-bush-barbara-bush-and.html
Not me - I only watch the "Ocho"
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
It's a stupid plastic toy robot.
Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.
This Evolta robot may not be fast. He may need to switch out bodies at every leg of the race. He may need to switch out batteries "as many times as necessary" during the race (even though the only reason he's in it is to promote how good his batteries are). He isn't a particularly impressive robot/publicity stunt.
But by golly, he's the only man made of iron* in the ironman race. That's good enough for me.
*Yes I know, it's actually made from plastic
They should build a robot 120 times taller than a human. It could run a marathon in a minute, or LA-NY in an hour and a half.
Is there something I'm missing? It will be impressive when a robot competes on the same terms as the human competitors. This means:
Navigating itself
Being one robot, not three (!)
Running on two legs, swimming in some sense (I'd tolerate leeway here), cycling a bike that would be eligible for entry
Powering itself for the duration of the competition
I don't care how well it does, I would consider it news if a robot could do - or almost do - that.
This, however, is not news. Boo.
This is interesting. It's not surprising that the triathlon boards are on fire about this today, mostly with triathletes (on average, very type-A and way too competitive) concerned about the robot breaking a variety of rules:
1. it doesn't wear a helmet out of T1 and continuing into T2. Result: DQ
2. it doesn't have a chinstrap to keep buckled. Result: DQ on the bike, time penalty in T1 or T2
3. it will be receiving outside assistance from people other than sanctioned volunteers or medics. Result: time penalty
4. if it has any open tubing it is potentially violating the no open bar-end rule. Result: time penalty
5. if it drafts off anyone on the bike leg, it will be penalized and called out on internet forums as a cheater and a sissy
6. headphones and personal audio devices are banned, if this thing can play an MP3, it's not allowed on the course
7. depending on water temperature, it may not be allowed to wear a wetsuit
8. if it drops batteries or parts on the course it is guilty of equipment abandonment. Result: time penalty
9. if it doesn't finish in 17 hours, it absolutely doesn't count.
10. finally, it must have a valid USAT license or risk being banned from the sport.
Disclaimer: this is a bizarre inside joke for triathletes, don't take it seriously.
In Soviet Russia jokes are formulaic and decidedly non-humorous.
Thanks for converting the Imperial "a week" into "168 hours" for us metric users. Weeks are, after all, even more obscure units than hogsheads.
In order to actually be running the robot will have to actually leave the ground between steps. Otherwise it is walking. So is it going to walk the course or run the course?
Does this mean that small animals one-tenth my size are easy to catch because they run so slowly too?
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
2 year old stories, slashvertisements for plastic toys, there really isn't anywhere to go but up at this point.
I might as well get equally as relevant tech news from TMZ.
Evolta's height is just one-tenth of a grown man, so we figured out that it would take it 10 times more time.
I believe what they mean is that it will take 10x *as long as* a grown man. 10x *more* would yield 11x as long, and I do not see how 1/10 size yields 11x time. It might seem an insignificant point, but I wish people would say what they mean and rely less on ambiguous or incorrect wording.
I've long since hit the point of 'semantic saturation' with that image [on the front page of Goatse], so the visceral shock reaction is virtually gone.
Goatse is the third image in a set of 40 (highly NSFW). Do you get a shock reaction to the less familiar pictures among those? What about the "pain series" (so NSFW I won't even link them)?
In a bizarre twist, despite it's obscenely poor time, the robot was declared the winner of the Ironman triathlon, as it was the only iron man who entered.
These fucking Japanese guys are creating the future. This is the fucking future, it is so clear on 5 dried mushrooms I took 4 hours ago. It is the fucking future, Now! God bless them.
It would be fun to see robots doing other sports.
And, technically, that 40 is made up of at least 8 hours of break, iirc.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
That is what I believe and nothing is going to make me change my mind.
Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
QWOP, you have my support!