•Notícia

The second JET International Robotics Competition, which has already been recognized as one of the most prestigious of its kind in Spain, will also run parallel activities. These include a workshop for primary school children to build robots out of Lego, conferences on robotics, demonstrations by Kevin Warwick – the first cyborg in history – and the Catalan humanoid robot REEM-B.

On Saturday 9 May and Sunday 10 May, over 100 robots built and programmed by 100 teams from various countries will demonstrate what they can do and the sophisticated technology behind them at the UPC’s School of Industrial and Aeronautical Engineering of Terrassa (ETSEIAT).
There are five categories of robots in the competition:

• Sumo wrestlers

• Mini-sumo wrestlers

• Sprinters

• Trackers

• Open (prizes for the most useful, most innovative and most high-tech robots)

This meeting of robots was made possible thanks to the joint efforts of the ETSEIAT, the College of Industrial Engineering of Terrassa (EUETIT), the Image Processing and Multimedia Technology Centre (CITM), the students’ association Young Engineers of Terrassa (JET) from the UPC’s Terrassa Campus, and the Terrassa Town Council’s Department for Universities.

Kevin Warwick is a professor of cybernetics at the University of Reading (UK). Fascinated by robots, he conducted one of the most revolutionary experiments in this area of technology: in 1998 he implanted a radio frequency transmitter in his arm that he used to control the doors, lights, temperature and domestic appliances in his home. In 2000, he had a more sophisticated device implanted in his wrist with over 100 electrodes. They were connected to his central nervous system and enabled him to control a robotic hand at a distance that was able to mimic Warwick’s movements. Soon afterwards, he implanted electrodes into his wife’s arm. Wherever she moved her hand, Warwick received simple impulses in his brain that enabled him to communicate with his wife through a sort of telegraphic language. It was the first time two human nervous systems had been interconnected. Warwick continues to work on his experiments and he believes that it will soon be possible to implant electrodes in the brain to extend and enhance our senses, learn languages quickly or to significantly improve our memories.

REEM-B is a multi-use humanoid robot built by the company Pal Technology Robotics, which is headquartered in Barcelona. REEM-B is 1.47 meters tall, weighs 60 kilograms and has anthropomorphic features. REEM-B’s two hands have four fingers and ten motors that are able to handle and carry simple objects. Its extraordinary strength means that it is able to lift loads that weigh 25% more that its own weight, which is unusual among robots of this type. REEM-B is able to go up and down stairs and has an average speed of 1.5 km/h. It has a microphone, camera, accelerometer and ultrasonic sensor that enable it to recognize faces, voices and objects.