August 14 - When students enrolled in the University of Florida's Intelligent
Machine Design Laboratory course were asked to design their own unique robots, Carlo
Pasco designed a robotic poker hand dealer to replace 'crooked' human
dealers.
Pasco described in an introduction to his robot that he came up with the idea of
a robotic poker hand dealer when playing poker with his friends, all of whom
are allowed to deal except for one guy who was adept at dealing from the bottom of
the deck.
He said that the 'dodgy dealer' served as inspiration to design a robotic poker dealer
that automatically removes the possibility of
human error or dishonesty from live poker games.
Pasco's robot was one of 30 designed by the students, including a robot that
offers people beer, a robotic shopping cart that cannot ride into the back of
peoples heels and even a robot that delivers refreshments.
It is unknown whether any casino groups have shown interest in Pasco's
robotic poker hand dealer.
