Looks Like We're One Step Closer To Cyberball With These Dartmouth Tackling Bots
By @GeorgeJFox
The big brains at Dartmouth College have created a smarter tackling dummy. Let's hope it doesn't get tired of all the abuse and leads the rise of the machines. At least it's soft and fairly harmless.
The Mobile Virtual Player (MVP) aims to simulate the size, weight, speed and agility of a player to make tackling drills more realistic with less chance of injury.
"We were able to come up with a solution that's a mobile, free-standing, self-righting tackling dummy that's also able to be re-set and be completely autonomous." said Quinn Connell, who helped design the MVP.
Seeing this thing in action reminds me of an old video game featuring robotic football players. How far are we from a really cool version of "Cyberball"?
The dummy's debut comes amid growing concerns about concussions and cases of former professional players who suffer long-term impairment after repeated blows to the head. That opens a market for any products that reduce player injuries. The team at Dartmouth are looking to ramp up production and market the MVPs to other teams including the NFL. One of their tackling bots currently cost about $3500 to manufacture.
The project started two years ago when coach Buddy Teevens asked Dartmouth's engineering school to create a safer way for players to practice tackling.
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