Robots at the Olympics!

With COVID-19 still in the air but finally seeming to abate, people have been returning to mass gatherings under specialized safety protocols, including school, weddings, and of course, the Winter 2022 Beijing Olympics.

While following the standard guidelines for safety such as masks, regular COVID tests, and as much social distancing as possible, the games have employed an additional safety measure: using robots in the place of people.

Of course, the machines have no place as competitors. According to Aadam Haladh of givemesport.com, the robots have mainly been used as a means to make and serve food.

“Although kitchen staff and cooks are at hand, videos have surfaced in recent days of robots making hot drinks and coffees for those in need at the Olympic village. Machines are also being used to cook, deliver food to hotel rooms, clean the floors, check people’s temperatures, and remind them to wear a mask.”

The mobile helpers have stolen the show at the games, videos of robots making drinks and flipping burgers sweeping the internet, though they’re not the only high-grade technology China is featuring at the event. Meaghan Tobin of restofworld.org mentions that a health app, smart beds, 5G internet, and digital currency is also set in place.

The health app “tracks participants’ health data like vaccination information as well as the results of the daily tests. In order to leave their rooms and travel between facilities, everyone inside the loop must receive a green signal signifying negative PCR results within the previous 24 hours by scanning their passes.”

With participants needing to download the app two weeks before arriving, the app is sure to keep any Corona cases from coming in.

The memory foam smart beds serve as a way to keep competing athletes in their top physical condition, “designed to capture an athlete’s ‘body signature’ and even send reports to their coaches about changes in vitals.”

Digital currency is more than just a method to keep physical objects from passing between too many hands, it’s also a chance for the country to try out their new method of exchanging money. “The central bank digital currency will enable Chinese authorities to trace how money moves through the country and is intended to be as frictionless to use as popular digital payment platforms WeChat Pay and Alipay.”

Though these technologies have been made and implemented primarily as a precaution against COVID, there’s a good chance that some of them are here to stay. Automation is hardly a new concept, and the chef bots of the Olympics are not only proving to be efficient but popular. The future is upon us, and these smart machines are only the beginning.

Capitol Tech offers many opportunities in engineering and engineering technologies, where you can create and improve machines like those used in the Beijing Olympics. To learn more about these programs, visit captechu.edu and peruse the various courses and degrees offered. Many courses are available both on campus and online. For more information, contact admissions@captechu.edu.