No Relay Race on This Olympic Field

One group of Olympians won’t even break a sweat during competition in 1992: the contestants at the Second International Robot Olympics.

In the fall of 1990, more than 60 robots from 12 countries participated at the first Robot Olympics, hosted by the Turing Institute and the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. Competitive events included wall climbing, two-legged races, more-than-two-legged races, talking, pole balancing and wall following.

“All interesting robots were invited to attend and asked to state their capabilities,” said Dr. Peter Mowforth of the Turing Institute. “The organizers then simply looked through the list of stated capabilities and devised competitions.”

Mowforth added that the “most hotly contested competition was the obstacle avoidance, with 12 entries trying not to bump into a whole variety of objects.” The gold went to a robot named Asterix, from the University of Toronto.

The overall winner, selected by a team of judges, was Yamabico, a robot constructed at the University of Tsukuba in Japan. Yamabico very politely made a short speech in Japanese, thanking the humans for inviting it to the competition.

According to the National Service Robot Assn. in Ann Arbor, Mich., the next competition will probably be held next year in--where else?--Japan. The location and date are to be determined.

Kids Outpace Adults on PCs

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that children are far more likely to be using a computer than adults are.

Nearly half of the children in the United States ages 3 to 17 were using a computer at home or at school in 1989, up from 30% in 1984. However, only 20% of adults over age 18 reported using a computer at work, home or school in 1989, up 2% in the past five years.

The Census Bureau’s findings indicate that two groups represent the leading edge of computer users. One is made up of people who became comfortable using computers in their jobs and began to find uses for them at home.

The other consists of parents who are trying to prepare their children for the work force.

There appears to be a strong correlation between the level of householder education and the ownership and use of a computer. Nearly 75% of children of householders with four or more years of college reported using computers, compared to 58% of children where the parents have less than a high school diploma.

Growth in Waste Industry

Firms that generate hazardous wastes manage about 95% of the waste themselves. But as regulations become more complex and as liabilities mount, those firms probably will turn more frequently to professional hazardous waste management firms. According to a report by the Freedonia Group, a marketing research firm based in Cleveland, hazardous waste management firms will see revenue grow 14% annually through the mid-1990s. The infectious medical waste disposal market alone will increase more than 17% per year, to $1.2 billion.

The treatment and disposal of hazardous chemical, petroleum and heavy-metal wastes will account for the bulk of hazardous waste disposal revenue. It is estimated that commercial hazardous waste management revenue will total $24.3 billion annually by 1995.