Remember all those DIY grappling dummies we got obsessed with during the early 2020 lockdown? Consider their cyberpunk-worthy alternative: Rollbot, the BJJ athlete’s fully AI-run training companion, created by Sam Hon, proving that we all clearly already live in the future.
BJJ black belt Samson Sausser enthuses in an Instagram post detailing his first roll with the robot, “The joints break and dislocate like a real body, and the robot can be put to sleep with blood chokes, when there is pressure added to the carotid arteries!â€
Granted, if you read or watch science fiction – or its popular subgenre, science horror – you might not love the idea of a robot programmed with submission grappling skills. Thankfully, the robot reportedly remains “defensively responsible,†according to its creator.
In other words, no, your grappling dummy is not going to go rogue and choke you unconscious. Sam Hon does not appear to have accidentally programmed the indestructible robot assassin of our nightmares, at least for the time being. Heck, the Rollbot can even verbally “tap†to your submissions, thanks to a speaker installed in its head. What’s not to love about a robot that respects mat etiquette?
Follow Rollbot on Instagram to stay up to date with this high-tech training companion’s development.
