Photo: Radu Chindris/BMW
I've been reading stories, books, and articles about robots and robotics for as long as I can remember. Even before I had discovered Isaac Asimov, I always felt a sense of wonder contemplating the idea of a machine that could improve our lives. We might take things for granted sometimes, but we should remember how far technology has come along over the past century.
As I was sitting at my desk a few days ago, I received an unexpected invitation from BMW's Corporate Communication Manager, Alex. He had set up an event for a successful robotics team that goes by the name of RO2D2. I was aware that more and more teenagers are getting involved in this field today, but I was about to be overwhelmed by the scale of it all. Arriving at one of the biggest local BMW dealers, I could already see that a group of about 15 high school students were busy setting up the scene for the demo that was about to follow.
On the surface they had prepared for the event, there were two different robots. One was an older creation of theirs, while the other was the new contender in town. Even before seeing it move, I realized how special it is. After all, it's not every day that you build such an advanced piece of machinery to compete against some of the finest teams in the world. That's right, the boys and girls at RO2D2 are headed for Houston, Texas, where they will be competing in the FIRST Tech challenge against thousands of other competitors.
The competition has been around for over 20 years now, and it doesn't take long to realize that it's helping pave our way to the future given the event format. Teams are built similarly to start-ups, and it's not all about research and development when building a robot. Handling marketing, PR and the business side of things has helped shape these teenagers to the point where they can build a sustainable future for both themselves and those that follow in their footsteps.
After witnessing some demos, I was given the chance to operate one of the robots too. The experience was not in any way similar to Discovery's BattleBots, a show that I used to watch during my junior-high period, yet it was still very much exciting. Even though the team had adapted a console controller to operate their creations, the inputs are highly accurate and quite intuitive as well. An extendable arm was put into place to give the robot an edge over its opponents, and I get the feeling that their little creation is going to be tough to beat in Houston.
To make things even more fun, BMW decided to give us a preview of their new BMW XM. As the car was still under a cover, someone came up with the idea of using the robot for the unveiling. Although it wasn't built with that kind of task in mind, it still performed admirably. Just like that, we could see the XM with our own eyes, and it's even more impressive than it was by looking at photos of it alone. The only thing left to do right now is for us to take it out for a spin, which might happen sooner rather than later.
On the surface they had prepared for the event, there were two different robots. One was an older creation of theirs, while the other was the new contender in town. Even before seeing it move, I realized how special it is. After all, it's not every day that you build such an advanced piece of machinery to compete against some of the finest teams in the world. That's right, the boys and girls at RO2D2 are headed for Houston, Texas, where they will be competing in the FIRST Tech challenge against thousands of other competitors.
The competition has been around for over 20 years now, and it doesn't take long to realize that it's helping pave our way to the future given the event format. Teams are built similarly to start-ups, and it's not all about research and development when building a robot. Handling marketing, PR and the business side of things has helped shape these teenagers to the point where they can build a sustainable future for both themselves and those that follow in their footsteps.
After witnessing some demos, I was given the chance to operate one of the robots too. The experience was not in any way similar to Discovery's BattleBots, a show that I used to watch during my junior-high period, yet it was still very much exciting. Even though the team had adapted a console controller to operate their creations, the inputs are highly accurate and quite intuitive as well. An extendable arm was put into place to give the robot an edge over its opponents, and I get the feeling that their little creation is going to be tough to beat in Houston.
To make things even more fun, BMW decided to give us a preview of their new BMW XM. As the car was still under a cover, someone came up with the idea of using the robot for the unveiling. Although it wasn't built with that kind of task in mind, it still performed admirably. Just like that, we could see the XM with our own eyes, and it's even more impressive than it was by looking at photos of it alone. The only thing left to do right now is for us to take it out for a spin, which might happen sooner rather than later.
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