I have worked in the golf business since I was a junior in high school and after Dr. Drake's last class, I wanted to show how robotics has benefited the world of golf. This picture shows a robot called TOP SWING. This machine is used to teach people the "perfect golf swing." The robotic arms adjust to people's height in order to give them ideal posture, then the arms gently guide the human body through the golf swing. In just a few short minutes, people have the "feel" for the "perfect swing."In class on Tuesday February 2, 2010 Dr. Drake showed us several videos of robots performing a variety of tasks, my blog will discuss what robots are doing to improve golf instruction and the industry as a whole. As I stated earlier, I have worked in the golf industry for several years. Today, I am a sales representative for the TaylorMade-Adidas Golf Company. My company uses a robotic arm, similar to TOP SWING to test clubs before putting them on the market. This arm can also be programmed to swing just like the pros on television so when they want a new club, the robot can test it for them before we ship it to them. This technology saves golfers the trouble of traveling to TaylorMade's California headquarters to test clubs.
Robots have been going through constant development for many years. Today, robots are being used in the auto industry, medical field, military, and entertainment industry. Now, the sports industry has it's eye on robotics too. The advantage for the golf industry is the repetitive nature of robots. When TaylorMade builds a new club and wants to test it, the robotic arm can make the same swing 100 times in a row, allowing analyzers to collect the most accurate data. Robots in the golf industry are now able to swing like the pros too! For example, the robotic arm has programs that break down each golfers swing in order to perform just like them.
In the end, I beleive we as humans have not even tipped the iceberg in terms of the potential for robots. It is interesting to see what companies will think of next for the field of robots. Maybe one day everyone will have a robotic house maid like Rosie from the Jetsons.
website for TOP SWING is http://www.gizmag.com/go/3803/
wow it amazing how robotics is playing a major role in our lives. Sometimes I wonder how far robotics roles will play in people's lives.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is very beneficial. this robot could really help you learn how to golf and maybe even become a pro.
ReplyDeleteI think it is amazing what the capabilities of robots are, and I think they are very helpful because of how accurate they can be. However, I have to ask the following question: Do people want to be taught by a machine instead of having that human interaction? I know that personally I understand movement (being a dancer) when someone explains how the movement works in my body and what muscles I'm using. Also, how hard will it be to use these machines? I think it will be a long time before people feel comfortable with this new technology, especially people who are older. I do believe that we are going to get there someday, and currently, the use of robots is good for the accuracy of testing equipment.
ReplyDeleteTo many people I think robotics seems like an impending doom, that we are becoming less and less of a human society. To play off what Henry said, robots play a major role in our lives already. Robots are used in ways most people don't even realize, just like above for testing golf clubs. Even people who claim they are technology free can't get around the fact that in the development of seemingly technology free products, robot technology is being used.
ReplyDeleteI think this golf robot is an excellent tool for the golfing companies, but is it worth it for the consumer. Im sure the price and upkeep of the robot is passed down to consumer throuhg the products. They could easily get the top 10 pro golfers to try out there new products to see if they are worthy of being used by the pros instead of a 5 million dollar (a guestimate made by me) robot to inform golfers how good or how bad their new products are.
ReplyDeleteI think the idea of the robot taching a human how to swing a golf club is ingenius! It would be great if there was one that could teach you to do other leisure activities like play pool, or darts. If one day we all have robot maids like the Jetsons, i think we'll have to be very careful. Haven't you seen iRobot?! In the movie Robots are given 3 laws to live by,all 3 laws center on never harming a human, allowing a human ti come to harm if preventable. Its impossible to break these laws, they're embedded in the robot's software. In the beginning, Will Smith crashes into a lake along with another car that has a Father and young daughrter trapped inside. the robot saves will smith because he calculated he had a higher survival chance. Will smith says in the movie, "It shoulda saved her, not me. That was somebody's baby" The robots mean well, but still just dont get the concept that he was talking about. Then again, what if AI is actually achievable.
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