Building humanoid robots is hard. It may be surprising, but humans have upwards of 21 senses to master, three of which — balance, proprioception (knowing where your body parts are in relation to each other), and kinesthetic sense (knowing how to move those body parts in relation to each other) — are integral for moving […]
BattleBots is coming back to TV — but fighting robots never really went away
2013 was a good year for robotics. Let’s review some of my favorite stories, maker, products and projects.
Mark Setrakian’s presentation on the art and science behind Robot Combat League. See giant fighting robots go from concept to reality TV.
Annika O’Brien works full time making cool robots. She also founded the popular LA Robotics Club, which has over 1,200 members including high school students, hobbyists and professionals who share an interest in building robots. The club meets in real space to work on projects and participate in presentations, as well as holding classes as part of their community outreach to under-served teens.
Annika’s boundless enthusiasm and outspoken demeanor jumped right through the screen at me as we met via video chat to discuss her experience on SyFy’s ground breaking show, Robot Combat League, where teams control giant humanoid robots duking it out in an arena.
“It’s like WWE wrestling with robots. It was a concept that no one had actually done before,” she said. “It was a helluva lot of fun.”
