OK, I don't know how I missed this while the Olympics were still going on, but it turns out that there was a significant robotic presence at the games. Well, maybe not "real" robots, but remotely operated vehicles with special capabilities (sound familiar?) were definitely in use in Beijing. For example, there were the
remote controlled javelin retrievers in use in the Birdnest (
here is another story about how they were used to retrieve hammers during the hammer throw events). I do recall seeing a brief glimpse of one scooting by during one broadcast, but didn't know what I was watching at the time. You can also see one in
this Gigapan image of the interior of the Birdnest, at the upper middle edge of the javelin pitch.
Hmm, if they can do this, can robotic competitors be far behind? Anyone ready to build a robotic decathlete for the London games in 2012?
-dave
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