It’s been a long time since a Canadian hockey team has won the NHL’s ultimate prize, the Stanley Cup. The last time the cup made a trip to the frozen tundra of the North was eighteen years ago when the Montreal Canadians beat the L.A. Kings in 1993. This long drought has caused a national frustration and rage to build, one that we saw unleashed in the rioting that took place last year when the Canucks lost to the Boston Bruins in game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
In an effort to ease the pain of the millions of hockey fans in their country, a team of students from the University of Manitoba’s Autonomous Agents Laboratory decided to create the next Wayne Gretzky, not through genetics, but by using robotics. The result is “Jennifer,” the world’s first autonomous humanoid robot hockey player.
Jennifer has the ability to puck-handle, skate, and shoot somewhat accurately. While her slapshot certainly doesn’t rival that of the “Great One,” Jennifer can strike a street-hockey ball hard enough to get it through two cones several feet away. Of course I jest about the reason behind her construction, as she was built as Manitoba University’s entry into the 2012 DARwIn-OP (Dynamic Anthropomorphic Robot with Intelligence – Open Platform) Humanoid Appliance Challenge. The challenge pits various university groups against one another to see which team can create the best robot–one that demonstrates both artificial intelligence and independent movement.
Jennifer will find out in March if she made it as a finalists. She will then have to perform a five-minute demonstration to a panel of judges. Perhaps some of the Canadian hockey teams might want to send scouts to see her in action, they can use all the help they can get.