Previous U. of Missouri President Gives $1-Million for Virtual Meeting Rooms |
Next Is Google Earth Becoming a Platform for Academic Scholarship? |
October 29, 2008, 03:49 PM ET
'ObamaBot' Campaigns on Wheels at the U. of Florida
No presidential candidate has yet courted the robot vote, but a six-foot-tall humanoid with a square head, flashing eyes, and a Barack Obama T-shirt is campaigning this week at the University of Florida.
Three engineering students — Camilo Buscaron, a sophomore; Bryan Hood, a junior; and Andres Vargas, a graduate student — built ObamaBot in two weeks with spare parts and $250 of their own money, according to The Independent Florida Alligator, the university’s campus newspaper.
The robot is operated by remote control. It stands on a Segway-style powered wheelbase and can rotate 360 degrees, as well as wave its arms (and the campaign signs attached to them).
“We’re trying to get people aware of the early voting and get people to vote who wouldn’t have voted otherwise,” Mr. Hood told the Alligator. “We all know that robots represent change and the future.”
Mr. Hood hopes to endow his robot with a more-human head and voice-activation software that will let it proclaim campaign slogans to passersby, the Alligator reported. —Sara Lipka
Categories: Offbeat, Student-Life
Add Your Comment
Commenting is closed.