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Olympics for Robots

Robot builders compete for gold, silver, and bronze this weekend.

Credit: Kaist

Today kicks off Robogames, in San Francisco, the world’s largest open robot competition, which has been ranked by Wired magazine and ESPN as a “top ten” event. Some of the 70-odd robot sports include kung fu fighting, humanoid sumo wrestling, biped soccer, and firefighting. There is also a junior league for roboticists under 18 and a host of “art bots” (bartending, musical, and painting are some of the categories). One of the most popular events from last year was the combat robots. Aside from offering the appeal of robotic fights, the competition drives some very creative designs.

Credit: Beale

Credit: Magellan

Credit: Coniglio

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