Robot 'Decapitated' in World's First-Ever Humanoid UFC Fight (newsweek.com) 42
"A humanoid robot lost its head," reports Newsweek, "during the world's first free-combat tournament for full-sized humanoid robots."
The Ultimate Robot Knock-out Legend competition began Thursday in Shenzhen, China, according to the article, with local robotics company EngineAI providing $40,000 of their "T800" robots (yes, named after The Terminator) to 32 participating teams from around the world: A video shared of the combat on YouTube by local news outlet Shenzhen Story, showed that even after one of the robots had its head practically knocked off its shoulders, it continued to fight, throwing punches at its opponent and kicking into the air... [White humanoid robot "White Eagle"] landed a high kick to the head of its black opponent, "Matador," which made the robot's head rock precariously in its socket before rolling completely out of place. The two continued to spar as Matador's head was swinging from its socket until eventually the robot fell, crushing its head underneath its body.
Matador tried to scramble back to its feet, but its head flew off and the robot then collapsed back down. The White Eagle did a celebratory dance for the crowd as the fight concluded, and did a move that mimicked that of someone flexing their biceps. The White Eagle waited in the ring, fists still up, as Matador was carried away, occasionally doing a few more dance moves...
Per a report by Global Times, the winning team will be awarded a gold championship belt worth $1.44 million (10 million yuan) by the event organizer.
It's a strange fight. The robots sometimes seem unaware of where their opponent is, facing the wrong direction or throwing kicks and punches in the air. In the first round White Eagle just knocks over Matador, who then isn't able to stand back up. (And White Eagle again appears to do a victorious dance.)
EngineAI's site says they aim to "promote the development of robot combat events toward greater professionalism, scale, and industrialization," while fostering innovation and global collaboration.
Thanks to Slashdot reader pbahra for sharing the news.
The Ultimate Robot Knock-out Legend competition began Thursday in Shenzhen, China, according to the article, with local robotics company EngineAI providing $40,000 of their "T800" robots (yes, named after The Terminator) to 32 participating teams from around the world: A video shared of the combat on YouTube by local news outlet Shenzhen Story, showed that even after one of the robots had its head practically knocked off its shoulders, it continued to fight, throwing punches at its opponent and kicking into the air... [White humanoid robot "White Eagle"] landed a high kick to the head of its black opponent, "Matador," which made the robot's head rock precariously in its socket before rolling completely out of place. The two continued to spar as Matador's head was swinging from its socket until eventually the robot fell, crushing its head underneath its body.
Matador tried to scramble back to its feet, but its head flew off and the robot then collapsed back down. The White Eagle did a celebratory dance for the crowd as the fight concluded, and did a move that mimicked that of someone flexing their biceps. The White Eagle waited in the ring, fists still up, as Matador was carried away, occasionally doing a few more dance moves...
Per a report by Global Times, the winning team will be awarded a gold championship belt worth $1.44 million (10 million yuan) by the event organizer.
It's a strange fight. The robots sometimes seem unaware of where their opponent is, facing the wrong direction or throwing kicks and punches in the air. In the first round White Eagle just knocks over Matador, who then isn't able to stand back up. (And White Eagle again appears to do a victorious dance.)
EngineAI's site says they aim to "promote the development of robot combat events toward greater professionalism, scale, and industrialization," while fostering innovation and global collaboration.
Thanks to Slashdot reader pbahra for sharing the news.
Disturbing (Score:5, Insightful)
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It was definitely quite odd. I'm very impressed by the balance the robots displayed; on the other hand, the aiming of their attacks (which were predominantly kicks) also seemed almost unrelated to where the other robot actually was (TFS' "sometimes" is an understatement).
Each robot seemed to have a very limited set of moves - just one or two specific attack moves, but several celebration moves.
I was a bit concerned that a human might be the target for a random roundhouse kick to the head towards the end of
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Disturbing (Score:5, Insightful)
What's really interesting is not the fight itself, but the fact that Chinese robot companies have commoditized humanoid robots that are capable of acrobatics already.
You can buy an off-the-shelf humanoid robot that has everything needed to balance, move with both feet off the ground at the same time*, get up from being knocked over etc. All the sensors, joints, and software needed to make it happen are there, you just need to teach it some fighting/dancing/labour moves.
* This demonstrates a high level of advancement. Older/shitter robots like Elon Musk's Optimus look constipated because they have to be balanced on at least one foot at all times. Boston Dynamics pioneered robots that can, like humans, throw themselves off balance and catch themselves. Both feet can be off the ground at the same time, and to walk or run like a human it's a requirement to be able to essentially fall forwards and catch itself on the leading foot.
A right to the jaw!... (Score:5, Funny)
URKL (Score:3)
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(Real) Steel (Score:2)
Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots (Score:2, Insightful)
"Unaware" just means latency. (Score:2)
The "unaware" problem is largely because the target is actively trying to anticipate and dodge, and it takes a fraction of a second to track and recalculate... by which time the target has already moved again. First they had to figure out how to target and attack. They did this. Then they had to figure out how to dodge and anticipate incoming attacks. They did this. Human combatants would (with practice) learn to compensate for this as well, which is when it really helps to anticipate what evasive maneuvers
flesh wound (Score:5, Funny)
tis but a scratch
Re: (Score:2)
What are you going to do, leak on me?
So Matador lost (Score:2)
... and it made it look almost real. So did it get a gift card to Bed, Bath, and Beyond?
Cheering on our keepers (Score:2)
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Nah, some drones with guns can do that better and far more efficient
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Robots are better at arresting.
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Drones can drop handcuffs, use projectors for visual directions and shout instructions via a speaker, at a mounted-gun point. Far, far, far simpler than trying to program hand-to-hand combat on robots, and far cheaper too. Nauseating scenarios either way.
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Stupid people do stupid things (Score:2)
It seems to be in our nature
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I cannot understand why anyone would think that fights are entertainment - be they humans or robots.
Decapitated is good (Score:4, Funny)
At least then nobody can bite your ear.
Dexterity (Score:2)
Ok, we've proven robots are good at dancing and punching. Neither of those have any commercial value. How about showing they can do commercially useful tasks that require manual dexterity. Like, I dunno, assemble an iPhone .. or place a workpiece into a CNC machine or something. There's a word for the paradox that robots can't do ultra simple tasks that a kid can do .. for example one-handedly select a key from a keychain while grasping them. Take out only a rubber band from within a bag of trinkets.
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Those are all purely software problems at this point.
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Uh, so? That's a big deal. That's like what the "nuclear fusion is an engineering problem" people say. Yes it is, so what? It's incredibly tough and needs solving.
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Neither of those have any commercial value.
UFC, boxing and various other fighting sports organizations would disagree with that one. There is also more niche battebots. And Pentagon probably salivating over these - imagine army of these under your control. Too bad for Pentagon, China going to get that army first.
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It's evolution of skills and dexterity, which sort of mimics human mastery.
It took a long time to go from people punching each other to Swiss time makers.
Robots are at the punching phase.
self-guided? (Score:2)
Many of these public displays of humanoid robotic prowess are driven by human operators. Ir would certainly explain the latency problem.
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Not if the human operators do a crap job at the controls.
Collaboration. For Skynet of course. (Score:2)
they aim to "promote the development of robot combat events toward greater professionalism, scale, and industrialization," while fostering innovation and global collaboration..
Child robots being forced to engage in digital dog fighting, are standing in the shadows of their brainscape eventually becoming more intelligent and capable than All of Us.
More capable to deceive. Decept. Corrupt. Break. Destroy. Collaborating under the guise of..human entertainment. As if the AI doesn't find that irony..amusing.
Gee. I wonder exactly what-in-the-EVERY-fuck could POSSIBLY go wrong, with that.
We wrote the damning warning label about this over forty fucking years ago with The Terminat
They need to ... (Score:2)
lol (Score:2)
The headline-writing AI doesn't even know that UFC is a brand.
URKL isn't UFC.
play more games (Score:2)
It's a strange fight. The robots sometimes seem unaware of where their opponent is, facing the wrong direction or throwing kicks and punches in the air.
Not strange if you've ever played a fighting game against someone not into computer games. They learn quickly that by just mashing buttons randomly they can often get a win without actually learning anything about the game. Same principle.
Two bots enter... (Score:2)
...one bot leaves!
But Can It Fold Clothes? (Score:2)
Can we start with more domestic chores then move on to entertainment?
I have a dishwasher, toaster, washing machine, etc.
I want something that will automate the use of the automation devices I already have. I want a robot to load and empty the dishwasher and wash my clothes and bedding then fold and put them away.
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Yes, these robots can fold clothes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Battlebots (Score:2)