Robot Throws Out First Pitch at Philadelphia Phillies Game [VIDEO]
A robot threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Wednesday afternoon’s game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Milwaukee Brewers.
The robot, appropriately named Philliebot, was created by University of Pennsylvania students Jordan Brindza and Jamie Gewirtz, and is part of Science Day at Citizen’s Bank Park in Philadelphia.
What differentiates the Philliebot, which was made from spare parts, from a plain old pitching machine is that it actually pitches the ball, using an arm motion and wrist action, rather than just firing the ball out of a circular wheel machine.
While the Philliebot’s first pitch was only about 40MPH, the robot can throw much harder than that. In this case, it didn’t, as the inventors claim they were under “strict instructions” not to do anything that could hurt the team’s mascot, the Phillie Phanatic.
Read on to see a video of the Philliebot in action.