Sports Robots
August 31, 2010
Score! With RC Soccer Shoes
Enjoy soccer but would rather not expend the energy yourself? These RC shoes will compete for you in a heated competition with a bud. Available in red or blue, they are controllable by two levers and buzz around on 4 wheels moving forward, backwards, left or right. The pair comes with 2 goals and balls but you supply the batteries that should give you a running time of about 2 hours. The fancy footwear will set you back £24.95 (~$39.00.)
Via Pro-Idee
July 9, 2010
Must Have: Elenco Soccer Robot Kit
With all the excitement of the World Cup 2010 and Robot World Cup, doesn't it make you want to gather your own robot horde team to conquer the universe competitors? Elenco's Soccer Robot runs on IR remote with a microprocessor and three motors, two for moving forward, backwards and turning, and one for kicking the ball. The 2-pack kit needs 4 AA and 4 AAA batteries (not included) to rule.
Via Elenco Robot Kits
July 6, 2010
China Wins Robot World Cup 2010
Although China didn't do so well at the World Cup for humans, it did manage to take first place at the Robot World Cup in Harbin. One of its winners commented that "we will see the day when China's football will soar to the sky, no matter whether they are humans or robots." Perhaps they should begin practicing now.
Vis Shangaiist
July 1, 2010
Danish Cheerbot at World Cup
Someone at the Danish embassy in Tokyo decided to equip a robot to help support its team at the World Cup 2010. We guess robots aren't always the best cheerleaders as the Danes lost their match to Japan 3 - 1.
Via The Big Picture
June 21, 2010
RoboCup 2010 Begins
RoboCup 2010 kicked off Sunday in Singapore for the thirteenth time. All told, there are 500 teams from 40 countries competing in various categories. Of course, we know that the main emphasis is on the soccer games and the Federation is hoping that eventually the roboteams can compete against humans.
Via RoboCup 2010
June 17, 2010
CM Dragons Practice for RoboCup 2010
While humans compete in soccer matches at the World Cup in So. Africa, Carnegie Mellon is focusing on the CM Dragons, small autonomous bots that are controlled by physics based motion. The CMU team will be participating in the RoboCup 2010 that starts in Singapore June 19.
Via CMU
June 16, 2010
Mung Encourages Sportmanship at World Cup
Mung is a product of a collaboration between students of KAIST and Yonsei University in South Korea. Its creators are hoping it will instill sportsmanship in World Cup 2010 participants. Originally meant to change color when it heard profanity, it eventually evolved into altering hues when a player fouls or is injured.
Via Plastic Pals
April 26, 2010
Nedney Shows Up Robotic Kicker
Last weekend, San Francisco Niner kicker Joe Nedney was pitted against Ziggy, a 340 lb. titanium robot, to promote the Robogames. During practice, the kickbot managed to send the ball 60 yards, but that was on cement. When the time came to perform, Nedney managed to send the football 45 yards while Ziggy failed in both of his attempts. Domination of human over robot is still intact, at least on the football field.
Via Wired
April 12, 2010
LG Hosts Robot Vacuum Soccer Tournaments
In an effort to promote their new robotic vacuums, LG has decided to hold a soccer tournament in Seoul, Korea. Thirty two teams will vie April 14 for 42" LED Canvas LG TVs. You can sign up to participate here. The rest of you will have to be content with merely sucking up dust bunnies.
Via Akihabara News
March 11, 2010
Robot Football Players Big Hit at CeBIT
Rajesh, Penny, Sheldon and Leonard apparently thrilled the crowd at the CeBIT Fair in Hanover, Germany when they performed in a football exhibition match. The University of Bemen's Wiebke Sauerland says that they use color and lines to "see" the orange ball, pitch it towards green and head for the yellow and blue goals. The team is planning to compete in the 2010 World Cup for robots this June in Singapore at the same time the "real" tournament will take place in So. Africa. Want your own sportsbot? It will set you back $13,500 dollars.
Via Google News
February 4, 2010
Candy-05 Tees Off
The Hajime Research Institute, with funding from NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization,) developed Candy-05, a 120cm tall robotic caddy on wheels. His cameras help him find a golf ball, determine the location of the hole and putt. Designed for Japanese golfers, maybe we should import one to bring back the fun of the game that seems to have suffered with Tiger's withdrawal from the sport.
Via Plastic Pals
November 16, 2009
Strike With 900 Bowling Ball
When those around you are scoring bigtime and you keep throwing out those gutter balls, whip out your 900 Global Bowling Ball and show 'em who is the man. The remote controlled ball has an internal weight on a threaded shaft inside it and it was designed for kidlets and those with physical limitations. Pulling this one off will cost you $1,500.00.
Via Popular Mechanics
October 16, 2009
Play Football with MaruBot Game
The MaruBot Robot Football game was designed for those who don't have the proper reflexes for foosball. Designed for 2 or 4 players, the bots are controlled by joystick. Available only in Korea for now, the robotic players react when a score is made. The company claims that it will encourage cooperation with its players and "minimize individualism, isolation and violence of online gaming." Then again, it might encourage bickering, illegal moves and robot rebellion.
December 23, 2008
WiigoBot Gets a Perfect Score
Take a Lego Mindstorms NXT, a Wii Controller, and a little ingenuity and the result might be the WiigoBot. The robot was programmed to bowl and, not surprisingly, had a perfect game. We expect that when the novelty wears off, Will Gorman will teach him to perform a grand slam or a perfect hole in one.
Via BattleBricks
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