WATCH: Mizzou reveals crazy dancing robot during Armed Forces Bowl
In what will go down as one of the most bizarre mascots in college football history, the Missouri Tigers unveiled a dancing robot at halftime of the Lockheed Armed Forces Bowl tonight against Army. For the record, the robot’s name is “Spot.”
Spot kind of looks like a headless robot, essentially. He’s got four legs and knows how to march, according to the video. It’s definitely one of the weirder mascot choices out there, but kind of cool at the same time.
It’s pretty impressive they can teach the robot how to do the moves in the video. It’s a four-legged robot at the University of Missouri College of Engineering that was manufactured by Boston Dynamics.
The robot will also be dancing with the Golden Girls, Missouri’s dance team, in future halftime shows.
Credit to the Missouri engineering team, because building this robot could not have been easy. That’s perhaps the most impressive part of “Spot.” Being able to teach the robot a variety of dance moves and tricks is kind of cool.
It’s tough to tell how many kids would want to get their pictures with Spot, because it might weird people out a little bit. Either way, there’s no question it’s an impressive engineering feat getting the robot built and teaching it the moves.
Many members of the Missouri band were honored to play with the dancing robot.
“Performing with a robot is actually a huge privilege, to partner with the College of Engineering,” said Alex Weinzierl, a drum major, in an article written by Nate Brown for KBIA. “It’s historic for Marching Mizzou, but not just for Marching Mizzou. It’s historic for all marching bands across the United States.”
It’s definitely something that would take getting used to for the viewing public. It’s cool that the Missouri marching band is excited about “Spot,” because ultimately, that’s what matters the most.
It’s doubtful that many other schools will trot out dance assistants quite like it. But it’s 2021, you never know.