JediBot, which we saw in action back in July, was a brilliant final project conceived by a group of students for an experimental robotics course at Stanford University. Kuka spotted the video on YouTube, and shortly thereafter, JediBot found itself with a new job as the main attraction at Kuka's booth on the expo floor of the IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems last month. We caught up with Stanford roboticist Torsten Kroeger, who took us through the brains programming behind JediBot's unquenchable thirst for the blood of Sith lords:
It's worth mentioning that due to a slight miscalibration, JediBot was not acting as aggressive as it could have been when we shot this demo. I took some whacks at it myself a little later on, and the robot was having a great time going for my throat every time I let my guard down. I have to say, it's really quite an experience to be on the other end of a robot with a sword doing its level best to separate your head from your body, but considering all the dull, dirty, and dangerous tasks that we tend to saddle robots with, can you really blame them for being overly enthusiastic when we ask them to take a few good-natured swings in our direction?