A Banbridge woman has proved to judges she certainly has talent after clever wordplay based on TV hosts Ant and Dec led to the perfect names being chosen for two robots.
From a mix of movie related names, puns on computer terms, Southern Regional College’s robots – a Unitree G1 and Unitree G1 Educational (EDU) model – have finally received their names.
Following a month-long competition to provide the duo with names, they have now been revealed as ‘Ant’ and ‘Tech’.
Defying the odds of movie inspired and clever computer name submissions, the panel of judges settled upon Ant and Tech enjoying the phonetic play on words.
By keeping Ant and swapping Dec for Tech (technology), the names make the perfect choice for the robotic duo.
Competition winner Ciara O’Neill alongside husband Glenn and SRC staff member Stephen Herron.
As Stephen Herron, Curriculum Area Manager for Computing at Southern Regional College explained: “Ant and Tech were chosen to give SRC’s humanoid robots distinctive, memorable and approachable identities.
“The names reflect our ambition to make advanced robotics and artificial intelligence more accessible and engaging, inspiring students to explore, experiment and develop the skills needed for a rapidly changing technological world.”
Now names have been settled upon, which robot claims which name? If keeping the play on words alive, Ant becomes the name for the introductory Unitree G1 model, with Tech becoming the name for the educational Unitree G1 model, due to its advanced settings.
However, that is one contest the SRC judging panel don’t want to judge upon, for risk of offending the real Ant and Dec!
Winning the robot naming contest was Ciara O’Neill from Banbridge, who pipped husband Glenn to become the winning submission.
In her reasoning for choosing the names, Ciara revealed that it was the real Ant and Dec behind her inspiration for the robots’ names, giving SRC’s newest double act names that are sure to get people talking.
