Autonomous robot skiers hit the slopes in South Korea
Self-driving cars are becoming commonplace. Self-skiing robots? That's a new one.
South Korea is the country with the highest robot density in the world, and the Winter Olympics have become an opportunity to showcase the nation's technological prowess.
So far a robot has carried the Olympic torch while dozens of others are offering directions, cleaning floors, and painting murals at Olympic venues.
The skiing robots were built by teams competing in a tournament called "Edge of Robot: Ski Robot Challenge," which took place on a slope about an hour outside Pyeongchang.
Eight teams from research universities and one private company went head to head to see whose self-guided skiing robot could make it down a course fastest while avoiding obstacles.
The two-legged humanoids had to conform to certainly standards of height, weight, and form.
The winner was the TaekwonV from South Korea's Minirobot Corp., which slalomed through five gates in under twenty seconds.
The video above shows the TaekwonV's tough road to victory.