The Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii, regarded as one of the toughest endurance events in the world, has been organized since the year 1978. The competition includes athletes competing in events which test them to the absolute limit of human capabilities. However this year the competition will see an unusual entry, Panasonic’s tiny Evolta robot.
Tomotaka Takahashi the developer of the tiny robot said that the robot had recovered from the Le Mans 24 hour race and was ready for the 140 mile long triathlon. The robot will follow the course that is traditionally followed by the Ironman Triathlon which includes a 2.4-mile ocean swim, a 112-mile bike ride, followed by a 26.2-mile full marathon length run.
A human athlete will take about eight hours to complete the triathlon but the tiny Evolta robot is likely to take a week to complete the course. As per the developer, Tomotaka Takahashi, the biggest challenge is the swim which includes huge ocean swells and tides that could swallow up the small robot.
EVOLTA Swim
Evolta will run inside what looks like a rolling hamster wheel for the run section and ride a bike that has training wheels in the cycling section. The robot is scheduled to kick start the race on October 23, 2011. We all wish the 7 inch tall humanoid robot all the best for his rather ambitious undertaking as the world’s smallest triathele.
EVOLTA Run
EVOLTA Bike