For those of you that enjoy running but sometimes require a little bit of encouragement， The Exertion Games Lab at RMIT University in Melbourne has developed a drone called Joggobot. The autonomous flying bot can not only keep a steady pace， but it can also provide encouragement when you start to flag.

Joggobot is an autonomous flying quadcopter that features a sensor that locks onto the pattern of a T-shirt that the runner is wearing. This allows to fly in front of the runner， keep pace and， should you need it， give you the motivation to keep running. Its two settings allow it to either match the runners speed or “coach” you by setting a slightly more challenging speed.

Instead of using robots to perform tasks for us， The Exertion Games Lab believes they can be companions for physical activity. Instead of using exercise apps on your mobile phone， the creators think that a robotic companion can lead to more engaging experiences.

The Joggobot also acts and reacts to its environment， such as extreme weather conditions like wind and rain. In a press statement， the design team said： “Both the Joggobot and the jogger are affected by environmental conditions such as wind. Boths performance is affected by rain. Both get ‘tired （Joggobots speed diminishes with low battery） and with both you can hear if they invest physical effort： the jogger puffs， the Joggobot whirrs. Joggers might ‘relate more to Joggobot because it has a body， they might even develop empathy because both have a body-focused experience. This is important， as we know from sports research that social factors are key when it comes to exercising.”

Unfortunately， Joggobots battery currently only lasts around 20 minutes which isnt exactly ideal for those training for a marathon， but the team assures us that they plan to make more upgrades to the robot over the next few years.

墨爾本皇家理工大學(xué)體力運(yùn)動實(shí)驗(yàn)室已經(jīng)為那些喜歡跑步但不時需要鼓勵的人成功研制了一款叫作“Joggobot”的陪跑飛行機(jī)器人。這款飛行機(jī)器人不但步履穩(wěn)健，還能在你疲乏之時給你鼓勵。

Joggobot 是一個自動四旋轉(zhuǎn)翼飛行器，內(nèi)置一個傳感器，可鎖定跑步者身上穿的T恤圖案。這就使得它可以在跑步者前面陪跑飛行。并且，如果你需要的話，給你繼續(xù)跑下去的動力。它有兩種設(shè)置模式，既可以配合跑步者的速度，也可以設(shè)置較為有挑戰(zhàn)性的速度，以此訓(xùn)練你。

墨爾本皇家理工大學(xué)體力運(yùn)動實(shí)驗(yàn)室認(rèn)為，機(jī)器人可以成為體育運(yùn)動者的伙伴，而非只利用他們來為完成人們部署的任務(wù)。發(fā)明者認(rèn)為機(jī)器人伙伴比手機(jī)上的運(yùn)動應(yīng)用程序更能給人們帶來更多的絕妙體驗(yàn)。

Joggobot 也會對它周圍的環(huán)境做出反應(yīng)，比如刮風(fēng)下雨這樣的極端天氣情況。在一次新聞發(fā)言中，該設(shè)計(jì)團(tuán)隊(duì)稱：“這款飛行機(jī)器人也和人一樣會受到環(huán)境的影響，比如刮風(fēng)。下雨也會影響二者的表現(xiàn)。都會‘變累（Joggobot當(dāng)電池電量不足時會減速）。他們消耗體能時我們都能夠聽見：跑步者會氣喘吁吁，Joggobot會嗡嗡作響。因?yàn)镴oggobot是實(shí)體，跑步者就可能更易和它‘建立關(guān)系。由于雙方都有專注于自身身體的運(yùn)動體驗(yàn)，他們甚至?xí)a(chǎn)生共鳴。這一點(diǎn)非常重要，因?yàn)檫\(yùn)動研究表明，當(dāng)人們鍛煉時，社會因素很關(guān)鍵?！?/p>

遺憾的是，目前Joggobot 的電池只能使用20分鐘，這對于馬拉松運(yùn)動訓(xùn)練人員來說很不理想。然而，該設(shè)計(jì)團(tuán)隊(duì)保證，他們將會在接下來的幾年內(nèi)，對這款機(jī)器人做出更多的優(yōu)化。