At Robogames 2007, Robots Compete in Boxing, Sumo and Hockey

Last Friday, robots from around the world competed in soccer, wrestling, and other sports at the Robogames in San Francisco. The event started on Friday, June 15^th and ended Sunday, June 17^th.

According to Robogames' site, Robogames is the world's largest open robot competition. Robots ranging from combat robots, humanoids, soccer bots, sumo bots, and androids competed in over 70 different events. These events ranged from line slalom, sumo wrestling, androids boxing, weightlifting, and even bot hockey. In robot sumo, the first to be shoved from a small ring loses, there are also robot kung-fu matches and a marathon. The winner in the 3kg category in robot sumo is team Zeta from Singapore.

This year, engineers from over two dozen countries have put their creations head to head in the Robogames. The most awaited event was the robot combat wherein machines weighing as much as 340 pounds will destroy one another inside a demolition derby with bulletproof glass. Of course, the last robot still running will become the winner. This year, the winner in the 3kg category was the Dark Pummeler from USA.

In his interview with AFP before the event, David Calkins, founder of Robogames, said, "The combat robots are getting better each year. We've got teams flying in from around the US and Canada, Brazil, Mexico, the UK, Netherlands, Australia, and even Iran just to compete in the robot combat."

AFP reported that Calkin initially established the event in 2004, dubbing it as ROBOlympics. His primary aim is to provide a forum between engineers since they tend to be isolated in specialty fields such as computer programming and mechanical engineering.

Robogames has also played host to the Federation of International Robot-soccer Association annual Robot World Cup. FIRA is the world's oldest robot soccer organization, according to AFP. There are teams from more than 20 countries who have participated in its robot soccer events. The winner for this event was TKU-Robot from Taiwan.

"The improvements these guys make in their robots each year always amazes me, and I see great robots all the time," Calkins told AFP. "It's great to see soccer alongside fighting robots and all the other events - everyone is really learning from each other."

According to the recent AFP article, RoboGames are meant to inspire engineers to make breakthroughs that result in better-built machines that can emulate tasks humans take for granted, such as finding one's way along a street or jumping.

To see a full list of winners visit the Robogames site.

SOURCE:

Glenn Chapman, Machines and their makers battle at robot "Olympics". AFP. URL: (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20070615/ttc-lifestyle-us-it-game-0de2eff.html)