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            <h1>Background </h1>

<p>Robot competitions are very popular right now; there are competitions 
for robots that solve mazes, put out fires, annihilate one another, play 
soccer, and so on. These contests usually have very specific rules and 
regulations regarding how the robots are to be built, what materials can 
be used and what behavior is allowed. Additionally, these contests tend to 
be focused on very specific tasks and the robots are simply judged by how 
well they perform those tasks. While most rational people agree that 
robots that are designed to put out fires or play soccer are pretty cool, 
there is much more going on in the robot building universe than that. Many 
humans are involved in building a tremendous variety of creative robots. 
ArtBots brings together some of these talented robots for a robot talent 
show. As 
in a human talent show, there are no hard limits on what counts as robotic talent; robots that play musical instruments, paint, dance, create and recite dramatic poetry or do stand up comedy routines are some just some of the intriguing possibilities.</p>

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<td class="copy">All materials on this website copyright 2002 douglas 
irving repetto and the individual artists.</td>
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