Evolta Robots Aim To Conquer Ironman World Championship Course In 168 Hours
Three robots will spend the week working to complete the 140.6 miles of the Hawaii Ironman course in Kona.
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Three robots will spend the week working to complete the 140.6 miles of the Hawaii Ironman course in Kona.
For most Ironman contestants, the cut off time is 17 hours. But for a trio of little guys the goal is 168 hours.
The Evolta Robots set out on the official Ironman course – 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run – at exactly noon Sunday. And they won’t stop until they reach the finish line, in about one week.
And while the 1,900 triathletes who took the Ironman challenge earlier this month finished the course under their own power, these robots are powered by three rechargeable AA Panasonic Evolta batteries.
Tomotaka Takahashi, who founded Robo Garage and is a University of Tokyo associate professor, is confident the robots and the batteries are up for the task.
“I want to prove the potential of robots and batteries,” he said shortly before he accompanied the first robot out onto the swim course at Kailua Bay.
“Computers, batteries, materials … they are all getting better and better,” he said. “To complete this challenge will mean a lot for these batteries.”
Read more: Hawaii247.org
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