Latest news with #BattleBots
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Where curiosity fuels the future: 50 years of the Petroleum Museum
MIDLAND, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- In a city shaped by oil, one place has spent the last half-century telling its story, not just through artifacts, but through imagination. The Permian Basin Petroleum Museum turns 50 this year. And for those who know it well, it's never just been about petroleum. Walk through its doors, and you'll find a game show that busts myths about energy. A recreated reef that dates back over 200 million years. A hands-on mission aboard a petroleum-finding spaceship. In the very next room, you might hear the roar of a legendary race car. 'It's a place for curiosity,' said Associate Director Mara Bland. 'We want people to come in and feel inspired, no matter their age or background.' Founded in 1975 by George T. Abell, the museum was envisioned as both a tribute to the industry that fueled the Permian Basin and a living classroom for the people who call it home. Over the decades, that mission has expanded. Today, the Petroleum Museum serves as a science center, historical archive, educational hub, and community gathering space all rolled into one. And according to Bland, it's still evolving. Much of the museum's strength lies in its range. In one exhibit, visitors walk through a recreated 1930s oil boomtown, complete with a general store and land office. In another, they explore renewable energies or learn how to drill for oil in a hands-on challenge where luck and logic collide. For young visitors, the summer science camps are a major draw. This year, 72 kids are enrolled, thanks in part to scholarships supported by Oxy and a new partnership with the Boys and Girls Club. A new camp called 'Circuit Wars' introduces older students to robotics, circuits, and programming through Battle Bots challenges. 'It's about sparking interest at the right moment,' Bland said. 'Especially when older kids are thinking about what their future might look like.' For many longtime Midlanders, the museum isn't just a local attraction, it's a source of pride. But Bland said many residents are still surprised by what they find inside. 'There are people who've lived here for years and didn't realize all this was here,' she said. 'And there are kids who walk in and see their eyes light up. That's when you know it's working.' The exhibits don't shy away from the labor that built the region either. Outside, visitors can walk through the largest collection of historic oilfield equipment in the world, from towering derricks to the same cable-tool rigs that powered early wildcatters. Inside, art plays a role too. Fourteen original paintings by Western artist Tom Lovell tell the cultural story of the Permian Basin, from early settlers to the birth of the oil industry. Lovell worked closely with founder George Abell to select moments that captured the region's spirit and resilience. To honor five decades of education and community, the museum is hosting a yearlong celebration. Each second Saturday of the month, admission is rolled back to 1975 prices, just $1 for adults, 50 cents for students, and free for kids under five. In September, the museum will host two major public events: a Family Festival Day on September 13 with food trucks, activities, and free entry; and a formal celebration on September 20 honoring the museum's founders and future. Bland said these aren't just milestones, they're thank-yous. 'We wouldn't be here without the people who support us,' she said. 'This is their story too.' With thousands of annual visitors, the museum has grown far beyond its original purpose. But Bland says the heart of the work hasn't changed. Whether it's a child stepping into a replica Chaparral car, a parent finally understanding what their partner does in the field, or a retired worker seeing his story honored in an exhibit, the goal is the same: to create moments of understanding. 'Those are the things that stay with us,' Bland said. 'Because this isn't just a museum about oil. It's a museum about people and the place we all call home.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Robots square off in world's first humanoid boxing match
After decades of being tortured, shoved, kicked, burned, and bludgeoned, robots are finally getting their chance to fight back. Sort of. This weekend, Chinese robotics maker Unitree says it will livestream the world's first boxing match between two of its humanoid robots. The event, titled Unitree Iron Fist King: Awakening, will feature a face-off between two of Unitree's 4.3-foot-tall G1 robots. The robots will reportedly be remotely controlled by human engineers, though they are also expected to demonstrate some autonomous, pre-programmed actions as well. Earlier this week, the two robots previewed some of their moves at an elementary school in Hangzhou, China. Video released by Unitree earlier this month shows the robots, boxing gloves strapped on, 'training' with their human coaches. The petite robots throw a few hooks with their arms before being pushed to the ground. One quickly gets back up and, after briefly struggling to face the right direction, spins around and delivers a straight kick, 300-style. Unitree claims its robots use a motion-capture training system that helps them learn from past mistakes and improve over time. The training video also shows the two robots briefly sparring with each other. The clacking sound of steel fills the room as they exchange a flurry of punches. At one point, both simultaneously deliver knee kicks to each other's groin area, sending the robot in blue gear tumbling to the ground. 'The robot is actively learning even more here skills,' the company notes in a caption towards the end of the video. Related: [Worryingly bendy humanoid robot can crush nuts, slice Coke bottles] The human tendency to force robots to fight for our amusement isn't entirely new. The show Battle Bots, which dates back to the late 1990s revolved around engineers creating and designing remote-controlled robots, often armed to the teeth with electric saws and flamethrowers, and forcing them to duke it out. Many, many robots were reduced to scrap metal over the show's 12 seasons. Since then, engineers around the world have been experimenting with new ways to teach bipedal, humanoid robots how to throw punches and land kicks without stumbling or falling. Sometimes these machines are remotely controlled by human operators. In other cases, semi-autonomous robots have learned to 'mirror' physical movements observed in humans. More advanced autonomous robots, like those being developed by Boston Dynamics and Figure, can move around their environment and perform pre-programmed actions. Neither of those companies, it's worth noting, have announced any plans to make their robots fight. Gentlemen, welcome to Fight Club, for robots! Follow us & comment below if you want to try out yourself. — UFB – Ultimate Fighting Bots (@UFBots) March 20, 2025 China is quickly becoming a center stage for public displays of humanoid robot athletic competition. Last month, more than 20 robotics companies entered their robots into a half-marathon race in Beijing, where they competed against each other and human runners. The results were underwhelming. Media reports from the event claimed many of the machines failed to make it past the starting line. Others veered off course, with one reportedly even crashing into a barrier. The first robot to cross the finish line—a machine designed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center—did so nearly an hour and forty minutes after the first human completed the race. Only six robots finished.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
SUNY Broome Robotics Team finding success this season
(WIVT/WBGH) – The SUNY Broome Robotics Team recently participated in an educational competition that was inspired by a hit television show. The team traveled to Bloomsburg, PA last weekend to compete in the 12th Annual Rage in the Cage robotic tournament. 19 robotic teams from across the region participated in the competition, showing off their design and manufacturing skills. Inspired by the show BattleBots, students used STEM objectives to create functioning robots used for combat. SUNY Broome submitted three robots, ultimately taking second place in the competition. Justin Ondrako, a student majoring in Manufacturing Technology, says participating in competitions is just as educational as it is fun. 'It's fun when you put stuff together and see if it works. And if it doesn't work, you go back and you try it again. You get to repeat, and when they work, you're like 'Oh my God, it freaking worked.' So, when we put them into the arena and you see your robot get destroyed, like, alright this is even more fun because I get to repair it and I get to learn from this experience,' said Ondrako. The team has won first place multiple times in the past. Ondrako says the team's success is largely due to the leadership of Professor Gary DiGiacomo. Binghamton Police criticized for how they roust the homeless Veterans' stories recorded in Owego BU hosts first ever Empowered Women Leaders Conference SUNY Broome Robotics Team finding success this season Homer man charged after fleeing from police Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Yahoo
Land Drones Play A Pivotal Role In The Ukraine War
Read the full story on Backfire News While drones have been around since WWI, most people only think about air units being used in modern conflicts. But the Ukraine War has given us a glimpse at how military tactics are evolving as drones have become a more pivotal part of the strategy, including not only air but also water and land drones.A recent report from Daily Mail helped shed a big light on the land drones being used by Ukraine. They're rather diverse and play different roles, showing how drones might be used in future warfare. One of the drones highlighted in the report is Robo Dog, similar to the robot dogs we've seen police here in the US use for barricade suspect situations. Others are wheeled drones, not looking too dissimilar to RC trucks or even Battle Bots builds, only with drab olive green, camo, or matte black bodies. While land drones are used to attack enemy troops, it's interesting to hear how some carry out regular resupply missions for troops on the battlefield. They can bring ammunition, food, water, or whatever else might be needed, replacing manned convoys which would be easier for the enemy to spot. Others can plant landmines which ideally take out enemy tanks. Some are outfitted with heavy machine guns. It really is quite the array of drones, and we're sure some we're not even allowed to see. Among the different designs we're allowed to see in the video report, we noted with interest a few of the drones had those airless tires Michelin and others have been making but that haven't really caught on. Warfare does help spur innovation, especially with vehicle technology. As we covered before, the Ukrainian military has even created improvised drones that are large but not quite so obvious. For example, they took a pieces of Teslas, the fuel cells out of a Toyota Mirai, a little bit of C4, and created a rather effective mobile bomb, weakening a Russian defensive position. While armor, infantry, and other traditional troops are still relevant today and likely will be moving forward, drones have provided an enhancement to military units. We'd liken it to what the jeep did for the US during WWII. Images via Daily Mail/YouTube
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Denver students to compete in FIRST Robotics world championship
DENVER (KDVR) — The future of robot battling is in safe hands. A group of 43 Denver students from several schools with a passion for STEM traveled to Minnesota to put their robot to the test in a regional qualifier. DOGE is terminating $9.4M in leases across Colorado: See the full list They left Colorado as qualification hopefuls, with dreams of heading to the world championships in Houston. They returned back to their home state having realized that dream and will participate in the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship in April. With April right around the corner and plenty of work left to do, FOX31 spoke with Internal Business Lead Jay Belasco in a Zoom interview. Belasco started with the team, Brute Force, in his freshman year. Now, in his fourth year, he said things have changed drastically. 'The biggest thing where we've grown over the years is our project management. We went from, you know, a lot of sticky notes on a whiteboard of what we needed to get done to a real organized Gantt chart style system. Our leadership team meets weekly … We go over all of our milestones and assess where we're at, to get where we need to be,' said Belasco. Although Brute Force started in 2007, like many things, Belasco said COVID-19 affected the team. Knowledge of work from prior teams being wiped out left them with a program that needed plenty of rebuilding post-pandemic. 'Our team kind of hit a brick wall in 2020 with COVID, we lost a lot of knowledge. My freshman year, we had four veteran members on the team, so we had to really work to get to where we are today and regain all of that knowledge,' said Belasco. When the team heads to Houston, they will take on other world-class robots, full of ever-evolving components and software, to compete at the highest level. While most people think of the cage-fighting BattleBots when they hear robot battles, FIRST Robotics focuses on problem-solving and can involve games of offense and defense, taking turns shooting at or defending a basketball hoop, for example. 'Every year in January, the FIRST Robotics Competition team get a game that has different, you know, ways to score. You can think of it like a sport. We've had basketball games in the past… Your robot is in an alliance with three other robots that compete against a different alliance, and you're trying to score points as fast as you can,' said Belasco. Mikko Rantanen is back at Ball Arena Sunday He said it's a little bit like BattleBots, but you definitely won't be destroying the other team's robots because that would make quite the dent in the pocket of the high schoolers, who are responsible for fundraising tens of thousands of dollars to participate in these events. FIRST Robotics Competition will also be holding a qualifying event in Denver from March 20 to March 22. Although they have already qualified, Belasco and team will still participate to try and refine and buff out any last-second issues. Belasco said the reason they traveled to Minnesota to qualify was to try and get as many reps as possible so they can gather the most information on what works or what needs improvement and to give themselves the best shot possible to qualify for the worlds. Woman who hit pedestrian, left scene, then returned now facing charges: police The next steps in the team's journey will be to fundraise as much as they can before Houston. Belasco said 85% of the team is on a free or reduced-cost lunch program, so their robotics team has participation with absolutely no charge. The team leaves for Houston on April 15 and 16 and will return to Colorado on April 20. More information on Brute Force, fundraising and the FIRST Robotics Competition can be found on the team's website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
