IEEE Spectrum October, 2016 - 43

EnginEErs and EntrEPrEnEurs:
the author [left] and his MVP cofounder,
Quinn Connell, turned their senior-year
engineering project into a startup after
a video of their tackling robot went viral.

(150 pounds) and had a top speed of 32 kilometers
per hour (20 miles per hour), which is fast enough to
mimic a human player. It could rotate in place, turn
on the proverbial dime, and weave between obstacles.
We were pretty proud of it.
Still, turning a prototype into a commercial product
seemed daunting. So we established a partnership with
Rogers Athletic Co., a leading manufacturer of football
equipment based in Clare, Mich., and the company built
six beta units that we brought to spring training camps
in 2016. We visited NFL teams such as the Steelers and
the Ravens, top college teams like Michigan State, and
a variety of high school teams.
That tour taught us plenty about the machine. While
the robot rolled easily across artificial turf and wellmanicured grass, rougher playing surfaces caused
problems. At multipurpose high school fields, our
MVP had trouble moving smoothly over the dirt in the
baseball diamond's running paths, particularly when
the ground was muddy. We're now addressing this
traction challenge. We also worked through critical
choices on materials for our components, switching
out one Teflon-like material when we realized it was
expanding in the heat of a practice session in Florida.
American football is a tough sport, and its robotic players must be tough, too-the MVP should work through
snow, ice, mud, rain, or scorching heat.
↗ Post your comments at http://spectrum.ieee.org/footballrobot1016

It took a while to find the best remote
control system for the robot. Coach
Teevens had originally imagined steering a dummy with a joystick, and we tried
that method, adapting off-the-shelf gear
to our purposes. When that mechanism
proved awkward, we tried two thumb
controllers to manage the throttle and
steering separately. This system was better, but the coaches still didn't get the
hang of it right away. We settled finally
on a better two-part control system: a
trigger that the user pulls to power the
bot forward and a steering wheel to control its direction.
I'd like to reveal more technical details
about the final design. But as a startup
entering the competitive sports equipment industry with a novel new product,
our company must protect its intellectual property. In August 2016 we distributed our first limited-release batch of
commercial MVPs. We sold 25 of those
units to high school, college, and NFL teams, and we're planning a full release for January 2017.

our challenge now is to make our dummies smarter. The current MVP is steered by someone on the sidelines, but coaches have
asked if future robots can be programmed to move independently
along their routes. For that kind of autonomy, the MVP will need
an onboard operating system that uses localization and mapping
to establish its position on the field. The OS could also support a
local-area network that lets MVPs communicate with each other-
potentially enabling us to field an entire robotic team, with MVPs
working in concert to execute plays.
Some NFL and college coaches also want an MVP that logs data
about tackles or running routes. While it would be relatively easy
to add sensors to our robot, these extra electronics could make it
too expensive for youth-level football programs with tight budgets.
That's a real concern for us, as our overarching goal is to protect all
players and reduce the number of hits they take over their entire
football careers. We're now thinking of building different models
to cater to different markets.
The need is greater than ever. American football is in jeopardy
of losing a generation of participants because many parents have
concluded that the game is too dangerous for their kids. But like
Coach Teevens, many still love the sport and appreciate the life
lessons it can teach. If the MVP allows young players to put on
their helmets and take the field with a lot less risk, it will earn its
title as most valuable player. ■
SPectrUm.ieee.orG

North AmericAN

oct 2016

http://SPectrUm.ieee.orG http://spectrum.ieee.org/footballrobot1016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum October, 2016