Visitors to the Al Wathra racetrack at the Abu Dabi may notice a few differences from tracks elsewhere in the world: first - there are camels instead of horses,... second - there’s no betting allowed,... and third... ...the jockeys here are robots. Robot Jockeys first found their way to the track more then a decade ago when the United Arab Emirates ended the practice of owners using young children, most of them bought or taken from Africa and Southeast Asia, to ride their camels. In their place are robots, though they are not desert droids who can wash and feed and groom a camel. These robots are fashioned from parts you can buy in your local hardware store and can generally only do two things: let the owner talk to the camel;... and let the owner whip the camel. The typical robot body is made from a modified electric drill, a keyless entry clicker like you’d use with a car, a folded sponge to serve as the robot’s head, and a plastic sheath wrapped in cotton that becomes the robots whip. There are also customized riding silks in the owner’s color of choice. With the robots in the saddle, the camels break into a run as the gate it lifted. Seconds later a fleet of SUV’s takes off after them, with each camel’s owner riding in the passenger seat so that he can clearly see his animal and use the robot to talk to him. The owners also use their clickers to activate their whips as the camels run towards the finish. Afterword, the camels who finished first, second and third received a traditional honor of having their necks coated in a saffron glaze, before everyone, robots included, heads home. From the Al Wathba racetrack I’m....