Humanoid robot rumble battles becoming spectator sport in Japan

• A robot fighting contest that draws huge crowds in Japan each year has highlighted sophisticated technological trends in robotics, experts say.
• The event is inspired by the sport K-1, a combination of kick-boxing other martial arts that is popular in Japan.
• But the contestants are remote controlled robots constructed and operated by robotics enthusiasts and experts.
• In each bout a winner is declared if a robot is unable to stand within ten seconds of falling over, or if one freezes up or falls from the fighting platform.
• One video, captured by Japanese service here (3.90MB MPEG) shows a large robot pummelling a smaller contestant and flexing its arms in celebration.
• Footage of The Rumble (3.48MB MPEG) shows eight robots with various fighting techniques battling it out.
• For example, one wields a knife while others use martial arts moves.
• The overall winner of this year's contest was the Humanoid Project, from Kyushu University.
• The prize for first place was $9000 and for second place $1800.
• Robert Richardson at the UK's University of Manchester, says the contestants at Robot-One exhibit "hierarchical control", meaning they can be told to perform a complex task, like standing up, and will do that for themselves.
• Richardson adds that the fighting machines highlight the trend for making robots more robust.
• "There's a definite trend in the last few years to have more fault-tolerant humanoid robots," he says.
• Robotics kits can be bought in Japan but the machines on show at Robot-One include large amounts of custom hardware and software.