EFDN Robot Floor makes its debut in Dutch stadiums

EFDN Robot Floor makes its debut in Dutch stadiums

On Sunday, November 7th, EFDN Robot Floor made its debut in the Dutch Eredivisie. While the Awabot robot was present on the sideline of De Kuip stadium in Rotterdam, two young fans, physically unable to attend the match Feyenoord-AZ, followed the game through a laptob at their home. The EFDN Florence programme will now be further enrolled in the stadiums of the 19 Dutch EFDN members acting in the Eredivisie and Keuken Kampioen Divisie.

Yesterday’s FAN of the match from a distance was right away a special one as in this first edition, not one but two fans were following the game through our robot. The twins Nout and Woud, together with their sister Emma, were connected through a laptop with the stadium. They saw all the actions on and around the pitch through the ‘eyes’ of the robot Floor while their faces were visible on the screen of the robot for all those present in De Kuip. The twins and their sister thoroughly enjoyed this first time experience.

The EFDN Florence programme will provide ill children and young people with the opportunity to become the FAN of the Match from a distance. This initiative will see the robot drive onto the pitch together with the players making it possible for a fan who cannot attend the match due to illness to join the warming-up, line-up, watch the game from the sidelines and join the players after the game during their lap of honour.

FAN OF THE MATCH FROM A DISTANCE

The personalised robot, with the name of the kid on it, is equipped with software that allows real interaction with the robot becoming the mouth, eyes, and ears of the FAN of the Match from a distance. Through an app, the young fan will be able to communicate with his / her favourite players and will be going onto the pitch before the game next to one of the players of their favourite team. The robot will also join the players in the player’s tunnel

PARTNERSHIP WITH AWABOT

A leader in service robotics in Europe, Awabot is a French company whose mission is to deploy robotic solutions that interact naturally with humans. As the standard-setter in service robotics, Awabot is the bond that links people to robots. Since 2016, Awabot has deployed the Beam Robot with Olympique Lyonnais, FC Barcelona, Paris Saint Germain, Girondins de Bordeaux and AS St-Etienne. The French Football Federation and the French Rugby Federation have also trusted the Beam robot. The telepresence device is also used in many schools around the world for sick or disabled students, to allow them to be in class and to stay in touch with their classmates and teachers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Paris Saint-Germain did lent their robot to hospital staff to give them the possibility to communicate safely with their patients.

KICK-OFF IN THE NETHERLANDS

The programme is freely available for the 19 EFDN member clubs in the Netherlands and will be disseminated around Europe afterwards. Dutch EFDN member clubs can select their preferred weekend for using the robot here.

Read more about our programme partner Awabot here.