Robots Hit the Slopes for the First Time in Pyeongchang
About an hour west of Pyeongchang a different kind of skiing competition was taking place. On Monday, South Korea hosted the first-ever “Edge of Robot: Ski Robot challenge” at the Welli Hilli ski resort. Eight robotics teams completed for a $10,000 prize.
While the competing teams came from univiersities, institutes, and private companie alike, they all had to meet the follow criteria:
- all competitors had to be more than 50cm (20 inches) in height
- all competitors had to be classified as “humanoid” – meaning they had to stand on two “legs” with elbows and knees that included humanistic “joints”
- all competitors had to have an idependent power system
- all competitors had to use skis, poles, and clothes
Similar to human competiton, the robots were awarded points based on the number of poles avoided and time taken to reach the finish line.
The winning team robot, Taekwon V, was the smallest competitor at just 75cm tall.
