Robowar - Sumo Movies
Topic: Robotics
So my brother has been busy updating his Robowars Website.

Check oput the new movies he's added (from Robowars 2005):
Sumo Movie
Sollaroler Movie

Bipedal Mechanics
Topic: Robotics
Remember the walking octopi?

An article in a recent edition of Science describes how researchers taught several bipedal robot to walk, by rocking like a penguin. The robots learn by a reiterative process ... for a great book on reiterative processes, read Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter.

Follow this link to see some cool movies from this study.

Ref: Collins et al. Science (2005) 307:1082-1085

News from Robowars
Topic: Robotics

Wow, last minute I decided to hike up across the border to attend Robowars 2005 - quite an event with competitors from as far away as Iran!

There were 2 events ... solarollers (little solar power race cars - see picture on the right) ... and autonomously controlled (i.e. AI) sumo wrestling robots.

Most memorable moment was seeing Ventripotent (one of the wrestling-robo-warriors) crashing to the ground and going up in sparks moments after being tossed out of the sumo ring by FIBO (see action photo below).



Here is a nice image from the robo-pit where Ventripotent is undergoing massive repairs. Sadly Ventripotent had to bow out of the competition.

Robowars ...
Topic: Robotics
Okay, now time for some shameless promotion. Not for me, or my work ... but for the 2005 Robowars competition organized by my brother and his new company Roboware.

There are two events. In the first, autonomously guided sumo-bots face off ... while in the second, solar powered "solarollers" race to the beat of electric light bulbs.

The competition is to be held a week from today (that is March 5th), at Concordia University (Montreal, Canada).

For more info, including images and videos, check out the Robowar Web page.