Importance

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Abstract

The invention comprises one or more electro-mechanical robots in human form designed to resemble hockey player(s). The robots are suspended from a movable overhead track and powered by motorized cars along a variety of courses, all of which causes the robots to move at the speed(s) and follow the skating pathways used in hockey plays and maneuvers. The elevation, speed and pathways followed by the robots are selected from a computer menu. The robots may be used for instructing and training skaters in the skills, maneuvers and plays essential to the sport of ice (and roller) hockey. The robots are designed to provide a teaching/learning tool and to be used in conditions which realistically resemble those that skaters/players encounter in real hockey games. Robots are equipped with sensor chips which, when impacted by the skater, will provide measurable data regarding the skater's performance during training sessions. Feedback will also be provided via video recordings of the training sessions and by other means, such as digitized images of the skater(s) and robot(s). The overhead tracks from which the robots are suspended may be raised to a position far above the ice surface when robots are not in use, so as to provide a clear rink to be used for other purposes.

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First Claim