---
title: "Watch an Ice Skating Robot Play Hockey"
description: "Researchers at ETH Zurich designed a robot that can teach itself how to ice skate. It could one day be used during search and rescue missions."
date: "2019-02-12"
modified: "2019-02-12"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/robot-ice-skate"
categories:
  - "Robotics"
  - "Robots and Machines"
tags:
  - "ETH Zurich"
  - "robot"
  - "robotics"
  - "the digest"
---

# Watch an Ice Skating Robot Play Hockey

![Researchers at ETH Zurich designed a robot that can teach itself how to ice skate. It could one day be used during search and rescue missions.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/robot-ice-skate.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: ETH Zurich\</em\>*

## He Was a Skaterbot

It's a skill not even every human possesses: skating on ice.

But a Swiss robot dubbed "Skaterbot" [managed to learn](<http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190208-the-robot-that-learned-how-to-skate-on-ice>). The maverick quadruped belongs to Stelian Coros, a professor at ETH Zurich's Computational Robotics Lab. Skaterbot was shown off at a local ice skating rink during last month's World Ecosnomic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

An official video shows Skaterbot competing with players from the local hockey club.

## Easy as 1, 2, 3

Coros told the robot how skates behave on ice, then let it learn its own skating technique.

"The only thing we tell it is how one ice skate behaves on ice," Coros [told *BBC's Click*](<http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190208-the-robot-that-learned-how-to-skate-on-ice>). "In particular, the fact that it's free to move in the direction of the blade, and it has high-friction forces in a direction that's orthogonal \[at a right angle\] to it."

Skaterbot can even do tricks, like learn how to skate with more than four legs.

The team envisions the robot to be useful during search and rescue missions, and could even be used for deliveries. But for now, Skaterbot still has a lot to learn.

"Considering that these are our first baby steps on ice, I think that our robot did quite well," Coros [told ETH Zurich](<https://www.facebook.com/eth/videos/vb.768635709814450/314643762500257/?type=2&theater>).

**READ MORE:** [The robot that learned how to skate on ice](<http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190208-the-robot-that-learned-how-to-skate-on-ice>) \[*BBC*\]

***More on fun robots: [Thanks to AI, MIT's New Robot Could Beat You at Jenga](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/mit-robot-jenga>)***

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)