During the 1990s the Turing Institute had been involved in a wide range of robotics activities and had developed links with many leading robotics laboratories as a result of both student exchange and a series of collaborative research projects.[12]
The event was conceived and directed by Dr Peter Mowforth, director of the Turing Institute, as an events-based meetup for robot enthusiasts and builders.[13][14] Although there had been single event competitions and national events for competing robots, this was the first time that such a large, varied and international Robot Competition had taken place.[15]
Many of the robots that came to the event reflected key research themes that were present at the time. For example, the two-wheeled balancing 'torch carrying' (pre-Segway) robot[16] that opened the event was associated with the institute's work on using machine learning applied to the inverted pendulum[17]
Strathclyde University was an academic associate of and adjacent to the Turing Institute.[18] The university made their sports hall complex available for the two-day event.
Veering out of lane and demonstrating inappropriate behaviour in front of children.
MEXBOT, Mexico
Multi-Legged Race
Damaged during transportation. Dropped when offloaded from ship in UK.
Special awardsedit
Several organisions provided special awards for different categories of competition.
IEEE Robotics & Automation Society Young Roboticist Award Brian Carr (School pupil), St Patricks High School, Coatbridge, Scotland. Awarded £25 book token.
NatWest Bank Prize for Technology Transfer Olaf Beck, Prof. Rodney Brookes & Colin Angle, Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT, AI Lab, USA Awarded with a Caithness Crystal bowl and £200 from NatWest Bank.
'Turing Institute Best School Prize' XYBOT Inverkeithing School, Class 7S, Scotland. Awarded with a cup and a cheque for £100.
'Olympic Champion' YAMABICO from Tsukuba University, Japan. Prize given to Shoji Suzuki. Awarded with a Caithness Glass Trophy.
Photographsedit
Torchbearer NEL carrying flame to Olympic Venue from Greek Restaurant.
Genghis from MIT. Olaf Beck, Rodney Brookes & Colin Angle.
Biped Walker, University of Wales. Paul Channon & Simon Hopkins.
View from inside the Olympics sports hall at Strathclyde University.
Gold medal winner Anthony Green with Asterix, Toronto Uni.
Scotland's Edinburgh University takes Gold in the multi-legged race.
Dr Who (Sylvestor McCoy) opens the event with Sue Mowforth.
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^Children's Britannica : yearbook 1991. London: Encyclopædia Britannica. 1991. p. 90. ISBN 0-85229-228-7.
^Tim Willard. "No Relay Race on This Olympic Field". Los Angeles Times. World Future Society. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
^Gavaghan, Helen (1990). "Mechanical athletes totter towards Olympic glory". New Scientist (1737).
^"L' OLIMPIADE DEI ROBOT". La Repubblica. 1990. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
^Grabowski, Rainer (1991). "immer an der Wand lang : die erste Roboter Olympiade". CHIP (1/91): 314–318. OCLC 732623432. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
^"Machines strut their wizardry; Japanese entry wins gold medal in 1st Robot Olympics". No. 29 September. Chicago Tribune. 1990. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
^"Robot Olympics". Agenda (Italy). Agenda Magazine. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
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^Lamb, John (22 August 1985). "Making Friends with Intelligence". New Scientist: 30–32. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
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^LEWIS, Alun (1990). "SCience Now". No. 19901002. BBC. Radio 4. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
^Buckley, David. "1st Robot Olympics". DavidBuckley. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
^"Trolleyman Lighting Olympic Flame". Science Photos. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
^McGee, Grimble and Mowforth (1990). Knowledge-based Systems for Industrial Control. P. Peregrinus Limited. ISBN 978-0863412219.
^"Turing Institute". University of Strathclyde Archives. Strathclyde University. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
^"UWCC biped robot in action at Robot Olympics". GalloImages. The Science Photo Library. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
^Collie, Arthur. "Professor Arthur Collie". Scotsman. The Scotsman. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
^Felix L. Chernousko, Nikolai N. Bolotnik and Valery G. Gradetsky (24 November 1993). Manipulation Robots. CRC Press. p. 245. ISBN 9780849344572.
^Grant, Edie. "Biography". NCSU. NC State University. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
^Moravec, Hans. "Biography". Carnegie Mellon University. CMU. Retrieved 8 November 2015.