1 Martian Way (1MW) Chess Robots(TM)

1. 1MW Chess Robots(TM)

Web: http://www.1martianway.com/chess-robots.html

1MW Chess Robots is a complete end-to-end event ready large scale chess set in which a team of 16 autonomous robots play a game of chess against a team of 16 humans on a high-tech chess board that's 16x16 feet wide. The beauty and the highlight of the 1MW Chess Robots is that they do not have any central controller to operate them i.e. they are NOT remote-controlled. Instead they arbitrate and communicate amongst themselves to come up with the best possible move against the competing human team.

2. Legoland California Show
The 1MW RoboteamX Chess Robots got a huge reception on July 17th, 2010 at LegoLand California, CA, USA. The Bots played to the great excitement of the audience and were only edged out marginally by the Mountain Lake Chess Team by 2:1 in a five match series. The Bots shook sporting hands with the team and walked away to the applause of the audience. The big surprise however came when we discovered later that the Bots had actually dumbed themselves down to concede defeat to the kids! Bots with a soul ain't they? :))

3. Discovery Center Show
On August 15 and 16, Discovery Science Center visitors got the chance to experience and visualize the ultimate game of chess! Karan Kamdar and Peter Shikli from RoboTeamX, a company committed to the study of robotics, developed robots who can actually communicate with each other. On a giant chess board, 16 robots competed against 16 humans in a game of chess and 1MW Chess Robots Won their very first game!

4. The Story of How It All Began
The 1 Martian Way Chess Robots were invented by Karan Kamdar while he was getting his Masters' Degree in Artificial Intelligence at the University of California, Irvine. Karan started from a small dorm room with the fantastic dream of building a large scale chess set and autonomous distributed intelligence which would rival any human team. Karan sold his vision to Mr. Peter Shikli, CEO of Bizware Applications who was running a chess company called as MegaChess which sold large scale chess pieces. After that it was like a match made in heaven with Karan working day in and day out to build the entire team of robots and the chess board in the basement of Mr. Shikli's house in San Clemente, California. Peter got in the deals and funded the project while Karan solved a host of technical issues. The RCR debuted at the Discovery Science Center in Orange County, CA on August 15th, 2009 and beat a team of humans in their very first game. It made several appearances at major places and theme parks such as LegoLand California creating quite a buzz in the country. It was also covered widely by the media with CBS and Orange County Register making first hand videos of the Bots in action.