Hockey robot tops

WINNIPEG—It turns out “Jennifer” the hockey-playing robot has lived up to her namesake, Olympic gold-medallist Jennifer Botterill.
The robot, the brainchild of a University of Manitoba robotics lab, has captured gold at an international robotics competition in St. Paul, Mn.

Chris Iverach-Brereton, a second-year master’s student in computer science, said the competition was intended to push the boundaries of what such robots can do.
He said the scientific team made little rollerblades and a hockey stick for her, and programmed her to skate.
He admitted it wasn’t an easy task, and added there’s still a lot they can do to get her to skate and play hockey better.
Iverach-Brereton’s group beat out 11 other teams for the top prize.
“It was really exciting [to win],” said Diana Carrier, a third-year computer science student on the team.
“It meant it was totally worth missing school, and worth all the hours of watching it fall on its face and waiting in the cold.”