Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2019-06-17)

T E C H N O L O G Y

Edited by

Jeff Muskus

22

Bloomberg Businessweek June 17, 2019

DJI,theworld’slargestdronemaker,hascomedown

toEarth.

OnJune 11,thecompanymostcloselyassociated

withquadcoptersunveileda toaster-sizerobotic

tankcalledtheRoboMasterS1.Madeofplasticand

metal,it hasfourwheels,a rectangularbase,and

a gunturretthatcanswivelandfirelasersortiny

plasticpellets.UnlikeDJI’sflyingdrones,whichdo

everythingfromtakingprettypicturestofertilizing

fields,theRoboMasteris partteachingtoolandpart

battlebot.Theoddcontraptionshipsasa kitthat

peoplemustassemble,learningaboutroboticsand

softwarealongtheway.

“Bydoingtheassemblyprocess,yougettounder-

standwhateachpartis usedforandwhattheprinci-

plesarebehindit,”saysShuoYang,oneofthelead

engineers. “We want it to look like an interesting toy

that then teaches basic programming and mechan-

ical knowledge.” Once built, the RoboMaster S1 can

be used to blast away at other S1s during some good,

old-fashioned at-home family combat.

The tank can trace its origins to DJI’s annual

RoboMasters competition, held at a sports stadium

in Shenzhen. For about three weeks each year,

college-age students from China, Japan, the U.S.,

and elsewhere gather by the hundreds to engage

in an all-out robot war. Competitors must build

lawnmower-size robots from scratch and then face

off on an obstacle-packed course at the center of

the arena. Some of the robots fire large plastic bul-

lets at one another and try to invade a rival team’s

base. Others work as supply mules gathering up