With the announcement of the Return of Robot Wars on the BBC rebooted for 2016 the buzz around what can be achieved with today’s technology is hotting up.
The inner geek in me is slightly excited and have already over thought some elements of of it. Here are some of my thoughts as today’s tech involves and computing costs come down. The original shows aired in 2001 to 2004. Most of the robots used radio controlled servos to control the arms and functions of the robots. 12 years later the world of robotics has moved on.
- With IoT could we see a future where a house robot is controlled by a viewer (maybe a competition winner) and using IoT connect and control functions of the robot.
- Instead of the standard Radio controllers used in the original series there will be more contestants controlling using mobile devices or wearable technology.
- Robots could have more sensors linked by IoT technologies to register battle damage.
- Drones that also take off from the robots and battle or separate drone battles. This would need a lot of perspex around the flying area though.
- Teams could be 3D Printing a multitude of spares and patches to repair their robots between bouts.
- Teams can also use 3D Printing to help create component parts with their designs.
- Internal components could be powered by low cost £5.00 Raspberry Pi Zero
Will be interesting to see what the new robots can do and what the build / control rules about robots will be.
A category in Robot Wars to help enable and encourage STEM initiatives would be a good.