IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - March 2016 - 16

COMPETITIONS

Robot Competitions: What Robot
Did We
Learn?
Competitions:
What Did We Learn?
By Jorge Dias, Kaspar Althoefer, and Pedro U. Lima

By Jorge Dias, Kaspar Althoefer, and Pedro U. Lima

C

ompetitions and challenge prizes have a long
history as a high-impact tool for mobilizing
human talent to find new solutions to societal problems and
major technological achievements-read [1]-[3] for impact
analysis and historical perspectives. According to [1], in 1567,
the king of Spain established the
Figure 1. An illustration of 16th-century instruments that have been improved based on
Spanish Longitude Prize to dis- technological challenge prizes.
cover a method to find longitude
at sea. This is the oldest record of
an inducement prize, with an amount of and 2) when prizes produce scrutinized so that tangible results useful for future
6,000 gold ducats plus 2,000 ducats per solutions, they can attract further research and technological development
year for life (Figure 1).
investment in a particular field.
can be obtained. During the workshop,
Competitions and prizes achieve
In the robotics community, as in the speakers explored the synergies that
innovative changes by influencing soci- many other scientific and technological will arise from robotic competitions for
ety or specific communities and indi- domains, there has been a significant education, for the advance of modern
viduals in different ways. The societal growth in the number of challenge priz- robots and robotic technologies and/or
benefits include
es and competitions launched in recent to promote practical applications, such
● identifying excellence
years. The aim is to stimulate innova- as rehabilitation, medical robotics, care
● influencing public perception for a
tion more effectively, to meet a defined of the elderly, search and rescue, or facspecific domain
challenge, and to provide solutions to tories of the future.
● focusing communities on specific
the problems that matter to roboticists
The workshop addressed the followproblems and mobilizing new talent
and society.
ing questions:
● strengthening problem-solving comThe workshop "Robotics Competi- ● What is the impact of robot competimunities by educating individuals.
tions: What Did We Learn?," organized
tions on robotics research?
Competitions and challenge prizes at the 2015 IEEE/Robotics Society of ● Is there evidence that robot competiprovide valuable leverage for the prize Japan International Conference on Inteltions accelerate robot technology and
investment by mobilizing financial or ligent Robots and Systems (IROS), was
innovation?
intellectual capital in support of a valu- an opportunity for experts active in ● Are robot competitions useful tools
able challenge's solution. The leverage areas of applied robotics to review past
to train early career roboticists?
presents two flows: 1) a shift of the risk robot competitions and to find out what ● Are robot competitions successful in
from the sponsors to participants since can be learned from such competitions
bringing younger people to the field
challenges attract investments of capital and to what extent these competitions
of engineering and robotics?
and time from motivated competitors underpin and further robot research. ● Are robot competitions a good tool
The workshop was useful to create
in promoting robotics to lay people/
guidelines for future robot competitions
the public? Can more be done to
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MRA.2015.2511678
Date of publication: 8 March 2016
and explore how they can be improved
improve on the current state?

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IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE

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march 2016
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - March 2016
