Jiao Tong University curling robot on show in Beijing Winter Olympics
The curling robot developed by a team at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
A curling robot with six legs completed its world's first curling demonstration at the Beijing National Aquatics center amid the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
It was developed by a team from Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
The curling robot can use its middle feet to support its body, its back feet to move forward and front feet to lob a curling stone.
It is the world's first six-legged curling robot that imitates the behavior of human pedaling, sliding and rotating, according to the team.
After the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, wheeled curling robots appeared in the world. The fact they are wheeled makes the throwing action different from a human.
"When a person throws a curling stone, one leg supports the body, the other leg pushes off, eyes are aimed at the target, and the hand controls the speed and direction of the curling, which is a complex decision-making behavior," said Gao Feng, the head of the development team.
"So, technical challenges for making the robot 'think like human beings,' include how to identify the dynamic parameters of the contact between the ice surface and the robot according to the information measured by vision and force sense. Also, how to control the robot's behavior according to the human decision-making method of launching the stone."
The robot can imitate the behavior of human beings throwing curling stones and has visual and force sense perception ability. It can be used as the daily training partner by curling athletes.
Also, during the interval between curling competitions, the robots can be used for performances, which adds a lot of fun to the curling competition, and stimulates young people's interest in science and technology innovation.
