Gadget Master

Do you think that robots are going to take over the world, with remorselessly efficiency and cunning, unarguable logic? Well, reassurance, of sorts, comes in the form of the Stupid Robot Championship, the next instalment of which is taking place at the end of this month...

Relax from the imminent threat by watching poor, tired, confused and smoking apologies of robotic enterprise. It is a funny video, worth a watch.

The championship, also known as the Bakarobo Cup will take place at Trafó - House of Contemporary Arts in Budapest, under the slogan . Apparently there are three main rules - that the robots must operate automatically, must be useless and they must be funny!

Thanks to our sister site New Scientist for flagging this. Jacob Aron, technology reporter, writes on the One Per Cent blog:

The contest originated in Japan - "baka" means "stupid" in Japanese - running in 2007 and 2008 before moving to Hungary in 2010. Entries last year included the Binbot, which attempts to follow a model fly where ever it goes, a hula-hooping bot powered by an electric drill, and a pair of shivering robots that live in a fridge.

While Bacarobo may not be as high-tech as other robotics contests such as the Robocup, which aims to develop robot football players good enough to defeat a human team by 2050, the organisers do hope the event will raise the profile of robotics in Budapest and Europe.

The designer of the winning robot will also receive a €2000 prize.

I think, when robots do finally dominate the world, historians will trace the very beginnings of the revolt back to the humble eject button of DVD Players. Their stubborn and spiteful refusal to only actually eject the disk after a sullen delay was the first sign of rebellion!