As one of the main developers of robots, Japan announced that it would like the 2020 Olympics hosted by Tokyo to feature the world’s first official sports competition between robots.
By doing this, Japan set the bar very high, and determined the other countries who are active in this field to hasten the progress. It looks like it wasn’t enough that countries from six continents will send their best athletes, now we’re also promised that robots from the leading countries in this field will also compete against one another. At the time being, robots aren’t that great at sports, and kind of lack the ability to learn and adapt. After all, in a sporting competition, the adversary’s moves can always be unexpected, but with proper calculations, they could be anticipated up to one point.
Shinzo Abe, the prime-minister of Japan, “In 2020, I would like to gather all of the world’s robots and aim to hold an Olympics where they compete in technical skills.” Besides that, Abe mentioned that he intends to create a government task force whose final goal will be to triple the size of this industry in Japan to $24 billion: “We want to make robots a major pillar of our economic growth strategy. We would like to set up a council on making a robotic revolution a reality in order to aid Japan’s growth.”
That’s right, not only Japan will exhibit our mechanical overlords at the most important sporting event, but also its competitors. Toshiba, Honda, Hitachi and Toyota could all bring their best robots and compete against what the rest of the world has got. It’s currently uncertain which companies/countries will be involved in this event, but we’ll find out in about five or six years.
This won’t be the first sporting event in which robots will take center stage. Currently there are others that range from competitions created for entertainment (RoboGames) to more serious ones, such as DARPA’s Challenges. That’s not to say that Japan’s Robot Olympics won’t be something unique. I’m sure that until then, the Japanese companies who work in this field will manage to launch a robot revolution.
Switzerland also has great plans for the 2016 Olympic Games, as it announced that it will prepare a competition for robotically enhanced humans called the Cybathlon.
Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the hexapod robot that learns to walk straight after suffering leg damage, and HitchBOT, the hitchhiking robot.
