- Robot jockey
A robot jockey is commonly used on
camel s incamel racing as a replacement for humanjockey s. Developed beginning in 2004, therobot ic jockeys are slowly phasing out the use of human jockeys, which, in the case of camel racing inSaudi Arabia ,Bahrain ,United Arab Emirates , andQatar , often employs small children who reportedly suffer repeated systemichuman rights abuse s. In response to international condemnation of such abuses, the nation of Qatar and UAE has banned the use of human jockeys in favor of robots.Use of humans in camel racing
Camel racing has been around for thousands of years. "The Sport of Sheiks" almost exclusively utilized small children, usually boys around the age of four, to ride and direct the camels. Often, the boys would be starved to be as light as possible. Many of the boys used for the races were often sold to race organizers or camel owners, and there was an active child
slave trade for camel jockeys, involving victims of kidnapping or the children of destitute families who sold them into servitude. The children were rarely schooled, and were sometimes the victims ofsexual abuse . [http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/robotics/2005-04-19-qatar-camalbots_x.htm "Qatar to use robots as camel riders"] by Tarek Al-Issawi of theAssociated Press viaUSA Today ,2005-04-19 .] [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.11/camel.html?pg=1&topic=camel&topic_set= "Robots of Arabia"] by Jim Lewis, "Wired", Issue 13.11, November2005 .]Banning the use of child jockeys
In
Qatar , theEmir of Qatar ,Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani , banned child jockeys in 2005, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/thisweek/story/0,12977,1458529,00.html Can robots ride camels?] by Ian Sample, "The Guardian ", Thursday,2005-04-14 ] and directed that by 2007, all camel races will be directed by robotic jockeys.The practice is officially banned in the
UAE since the year2002 . The UAE was the first to ban the use of children under 15 as jockeys in the popular local sport of camel-racing whenSheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan announced the ban onJuly 29 ,2002 . [ [http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2005/May/theuae_May691.xml§ion=theuae UAE enforces stringent steps to eradicate child jockeys] (Wam), "Khaleej Times ",24 May 2005 ] UAE issued great Penalties such as jail and ban for those who are found using children as jockeys.Development and usage
The government of Qatar initiated development of the robots beginning in 2004. A Swiss robotics firm named K-Team, under the direction of
Alexandre Colot , designed the robots. Part of the initial problems faced by the design team included that the camels were conditioned to the use of human jockeys. Early designs confused or frightened the camels. The designs were modified to include more human-like features, including amannequin -like face,sunglasses , hats,racing silks , and even traditional perfumes used with human jockeys. Other issues included the conditions that the robots and the computers would be put under: usually high temperatures in dusty environments, atop a fast moving and turbulent ride.The robots are small, light weight, and are remote controlled, usually by operators paralleling the race in SUVs. The robots, which are
aluminum -framed with a "thorax" about the size of a large book, contain small hinged arms that control the whip and the reins. The robot can also monitor and transmit the speed and heart rate of the camel.Current usage
Widespread usage is limited to
Qatar andUAE where the robots have been widely accepted. [http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2006/dec/07/camel-racing-sport-sheiks/ "Camel racing 'sport of sheiks'"] by Eric Talmadge of theAssociated Press via "The San Angelo Standard-Times",2006-12-07 ]Notes and references
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