Robotic Tackling Dummies Make Football Practice Safer

The MVP, or Mobile Virtual Player, was designed to take the hit—the sort of jarring blow that, inflicted repeatedly, can injure the brains of human players. American football has been rocked by controversy over the last decade, as it has become clear that the repeated collisions inherent to the sport are giving players concussions and sometimes causing debilitating and permanent brain trauma. In response, the U.S. National Football League (NFL) has altered rules and contributed millions to medical research. Meanwhile, the same head-injury concerns have found even greater resonance in college and youth football. Doctors, politicians, and parents are asking an urgent question: If these smashing impacts begin when players are young, what will be the cumulative effect after many years? The idea was to not hit other players at practice and learning to keep players heads up and do what really is technique-sensitive in tackling.

How a Robot Football Player Will Prevent Concussions

How a Robot Football Player Will Prevent Concussions – During practice, the MVP robot can stand in for American football players and take the tackles

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