Why are there remote control minis at the olympics

Similar cars were in use during the Beijing Games to retrieve javelins. Four years later in London, they were designed to look like Mini Coopers. Amber Campbell, a three-time Olympian for the U. Price said she asked the person operating the car if she could try it. She was told no. They are the remote-control go-fers of all the track-and-field events that involve throwing things for long distances. They started in China as large, rocket-shaped buggies used to carry javelins back-and-forth.

In London, they were mini-Mini Coopers, taking all manner of field-event items—hammers, discuses, shots—to and fro. This time, they are green pickup trucks labeled Rio , with a slot in back into which a discus can be slid.

They're mostly black and white, and it's immediately unclear what purpose they serve if you're just seeing them in the foreground or background of a race like this one:. So, what are these futuristic-looking interlopers? Well, the reason they may be a mystery for people watching the "track" part of track and field is that they haven't seen them in action during some other events.

The little cars are, in fact, recovery robots used to transport thrown objects e. Such cars have actually been used at past Olympics, with different aesthetics. The real twist with Tokyo's recovery robots is that they have switched from remote control cars like the two above to cars operated by artificial intelligence. Per the Olympics' release announcing the robots' existence , the cars are made through a partnership with Toyota and use their onboard cameras and computers to determine the optimal path to transport their cargo.

The cars — er, field support robots — are part of a fleet of robots deployed by the Olympics and Toyota in Tokyo, including some rugby ball-transporting siblings. Of course, none can hold a candle to our new basketball-shooting overlords.

Our robot overlords are hitting half court shots now. TokyoOlympics pic. Robinson: 5 potential destinations for QB Rodgers. Draped around the top of its body is a band of LED lights which illuminate when the vehicle uses artificial intelligence to follow event officials towards the equipment hurled by athletes onto the pitch during shot put, discus throw, hammer throw and javelin events. After the equipment, which can weigh as much as eight kilograms for hammers, is loaded into the vehicle by the official, a press of a button located towards its front sends the car zipping back to athletes for later use.

The trend of using miniature cars to fetch equipment at Olympics throwing events goes back to the Beijing Games, where firey-red, rocket-shaped cars scurried along the green to collect hammers, javelins and discuses.