Is this baseball robot the MVP of the future?
Researchers at Tokyo's University of Electro-Communications have unveiled a robot capable of playing baseball ... kind of. The miniature humanoid swings at a variety of pitches with a fan-shaped bat, improving its performance over time.
The concept of a robot that can play baseball is not unique -- far from it, in fact. For instance, eight years ago, Hiroshima University constructed a bot that could hit pitches at speeds approaching 190 mph. Here's what's unique about this new model: its artificial cerebellum. With a processing power equivalent to 100,000 neurons (think lobster brain), this complex software and hardware enable it to learn from experience.
The possibility remains incredibly remote, but our inner high-concept 80's movie fans want to know: should robots be allowed in the Majors? We've outlined the pros and cons of the issue below.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| No family makes traveling (and trades) painless | Elopes with team's charter plane |
| Programmed never to brawl | Bug in code causes all robots to brawl against all humans |
| Can calculate any statistic to the 100th decimal place | Won't shut up about it |
| Base-running speeds no longer limited by puny human legs | Groundskeepers must completely rebuild scorched infield after every hit |
| All this Gatorade is getting expensive | Robot Gatorade is two parts rocket fuel, one part printer ink |
| No muscles to strain, no ACLs to tear, no arteries to clog, no bones to break | "What is ... 'love?'" |
-- Molly Fitzpatrick / MLB.com
(Image and video via Wired)