A trio of small Japanese robots will be working together on the Big Island of Hawaii next month to attempt to take on the Ironman Hawaii triathlon course in a show of their inner strength - rechargeable batteries. Fitted with three different bodies and three rechargeable batteries, the hand-sized robot, named Evolta, from electronics firm Panasonic, will swim, bicycle and run its way through one of the world's toughest triathlon courses.
Consumer electronics maker Panasonic will use one set of three rechargeable batteries for the whole 2.4-mile (3.8-kilometre) swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run to power the humanoid 'Evolta' robots made by creator Tomotaka Takahashi.
"This is very tough even for a sportsman, but I think it is worth a challenge," said Tomotaka Takahashi, who created the green-and-white toy-like robot.
Panasonic hopes to reach the finish line in one week, or 168 hours, by recharging the set of batteries shared by the three robots as many times as necessary during the race. The Ironman triathlon challenge begins on October 24th and will continue non-stop for seven days and nights. No need to worry about getting run over as the real Ironman World Championship takes place on October 8th.
The Ironman Hawaii triathlon challenge will be the latest in a series of similar endurance campaigns to show off the strength of the Evolta line of batteries. It already managed to finish a 500-kilometer trek from Tokyo to Kyoto and scale the walls of the Grand Canyon.
Here is a video clip, of what Evolta has attempted and what he will try to do in Hawaii.
For more information visit: www.panasonic.jp/charge/evolta/challenge/2011/index.html
You can follow the adventures of the little robot on its official Twitter account.
