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Robot designed to always win at rock-paper-scissors offers challenge with $10.000 prize
Mark Rober, the renowned American YouTuber known for his groundbreaking science content, has just revealed one of his most impressive creations: a robot called “Rocky” that challenges and wins the game of rock, paper, scissors with precision impressive.
This seemingly invincible robot combines advanced technology to anticipate and defeat any human opponent.
Who is Mark Rober?
Mark Rober is no ordinary internet name. A former NASA engineer, he has become a popular figure on YouTube, where he shares inventions and scientific experiments with a wide audience.
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Additionally, Rober is the founder of CrunchLabs, a company dedicated to creating monthly science toys, encouraging science learning in a practical and fun way.
How does Rocky work?
Rocky, Rober's robot, is a true work of engineering that uses motion tracking and fast data processing technologies.
The robot is equipped with infrared motion sensors and a minicomputer capable of identifying the opponent's hand movement and finger position in real time, analyzing and responding in a fraction of a second.
"Not only does Rocky track the position of my hands, so it follows my up and down movements, but it also checks the position of my fingers 100 times per second using an infrared hand motion detector.“, Rober explained. This allows Rocky to identify the opponent’s choice and react before the human even completes his hand gesture, ensuring a near-resultant victory.
Challenge opponents and cash prize
Rober recently posted a video on his channel YouTube showing Rocky in action and challenging his viewers to face the robot. He offered a $10.000 prize to whoever managed to defeat him, but so far, no human opponent has been able to overcome Rocky.
The video became a huge hit on the platform, accumulating millions of views and generating posts about the robot's power.
Strategy to increase your chances of winning
Despite Rocky’s high-tech nature, Rober did offer a curious tip for increasing your chances of winning the game of rock, paper, scissors, at least against human opponents. “You should know that there is a trick you can use when playing against other humans to win 75 percent of the time,” he said.
He explains that research on 54.000 rock, paper, scissors games shows a pattern: if the opponent wins, he is more likely to repeat his last choice, while if he loses, he will tend to change his choice to the next one in the sequence.
Eg
- If a player loses using “rock”, there is a higher chance that he will try “paper” in the next round.
- This technique, however, is nearly useless against Rocky, who responds instantly.
Other rock, paper, scissors robots
While Rocky is groundbreaking, he’s not the first robot to master this simple game. In 2012, the Ishikawa Group Laboratory in Tokyo, Japan, created the Janken robot, also invincible, which used high-speed tracking technology to anticipate its opponent’s moves.
Rober's creation takes the concept to another level, as he has integrated this technology into a publicly available toy, making Rocky a unique experience for the average user.
Rocky represents more than just a victory in a child’s game; he symbolizes the advancement of technology and the creativity of inventors like Mark Robert. Now, the big question is whether anyone will be able to beat Rocky and take home the $10.000,00 prize.
