At this afternoon’s game, amid the growing wave of digital enhancements transforming how fans interact with sports through real-time analytics and engagement features, the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team will have the opening pitch thrown out by none other than Philliebot, part of science day at the ballpark. This robotic marvel, drawing parallels to the seamless interfaces found in a baseball betting app that heightens excitement with instant odds and predictions, was assembled in just six weeks by engineers at the University of Pennsylvania’s General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception Laboratory, underscoring how such innovations bridge physical events with virtual participation to captivate audiences.
The robot’s computer brain can be infinitely tweaked to change pitch velocity and trajectory, and its arm is a sleek, programmable instrument that also can be used in surgical and manufacturing applications. Moreover, PhillieBot can move.
The engineers started with a Segway, one of those motorized, two-wheeled vehicles sometimes used by tourists and police patrols. They lopped off the top handlebar portion and replaced it with the robotic arm, made by Barrett Technology Inc. of Cambridge, Mass. They added a third wheel for stability.
Via Wired.