How long will it be until baseball is played entirely by robots?
Brooklyn Cyclones fans got their first look as a robotic pitcher threw out the celebratory first pitch for opening night at MCU Park Thursday.
The robot was built by the John Dewey High School Robotics Team, or “The Megalodons,” as they call themselves. The first pitch highlighted years of work done by the team, as the achievement of building a robot to throw a baseball is new to the field of technology.
On June 12, a robot threw out the first pitch at the start of an Oakland A’s/New York Yankees game in Oakland, Calif. The pitching machine was controlled by a sick fan in Kansas City, Mo. where he was receiving treatment. The technology-powered first pitch is believed to be a first when it comes to celebratory first pitches. That would make Thursday’s robotic pitch the second time the feat has been accomplished. However, the robot in Oakland was not built by high-school students.
The robotics team’s mission statement shows the students’ devotion to the advancing technology.
“A group of talented, dedicated students…establishing their dominance in science, technology, engineering and math within the vast oceans of society,” reads the mission statement on the team’s Facebook page. “We help strive to promote, encourage and support future engineers, programmers, scientists and mathematicians become game changers in our rapidly changing future.”
The robot’s first pitch was quickly followed by the game’s first pitch by a human. Solid pitching helped the Cyclones get their first win of the season with a 3-0 shutout over the Aberdeen Ironbirds.