RoboDan to take on the real Dan Carter

If current technological developments are anything to go by, then in the future the most riveting rugby matches might just be held between humans and their life-sized robots, specially designed to swing a mean kick. Even as you read this, engineering students at the prestigious Massey University are working overtime to create a kind of robot that they believe will give our rugby stars a literal run for their money.

football kicking robot

On being asked if star players like Dan Carter, record holder for the second highest points scored in test rugby, should be worried, Team leader and robotics masters student Maurice Tipene said,

Oh yeah, definitely. We are pretty confident that we can do it – it's just getting it accurate.

In fact, Tipene and his team have a very good reason to be so confident. They have just returned triumphant from Florida, United states, where they went on to beat some 36 other universities to win the Vex Robotics World Champs. Their winning creation was a pair of robots, with arms strong enough to shift the goal posts, and stack the maximum number of plastic rings on to these goal posts the fastest.

RoboDan, as they fondly call their prototype, is designed to compete with humans not just on the field, but also off it for affection and crowd support. Tipene explains that while the robot's legs are designed to move like a human's, he would be a little smaller than the average All Black, granting him a "cute factor" that could ensure he win over any crowd.

The team at Massey University is specially creating and designing this robot for the first ever Robotics World Cup, to be held in New Zealand. To be held as a side-show lauding Kiwi innovation during the Rugby World Cup, the Robotics cup boasts of a $10,000 first prize. Needless to say, this alone has attracted dozens of international school and university teams to attend and participate.

So is the real Dan Carter actually worried? Not really, according to Patrick McKendry, the Crusaders media manager. McKendry agrees that RoboDan may just succeed in exploiting Dan’s hamstring injury, but overall is no real threat to Dan, as he would not be able to employ sophisticated decision-making and rugby techniques.

As of now the debate continues, and only time will tell, whether it is man or machine who scores the winning goal.

Via: Stuff