Robots to the rescue - 18th November 2022

Robots have become a key part of the ancient sport of camel racing, also called the 'Sport of Sheikhs'. The races happen all across the Middle East, where Bedouin tribes travel using camels.

It's important for camel jockeys to be as light as possible. For this reason, young children were being used as jockeys. Some children were only four years old and many weren't fed. As a result, the sport was guilty of child trafficking and human rights abuses.

To solve this problem, the UAE banned using riders under 15 years of age, in 2002. Meanwhile, the previous year, Qatar began building robot riders, but this wasn't an easy process. The robots, built by a Swiss company, scared the camels, so they redesigned them to resemble humans. They were dressed in clothes, hats and sunglasses.

These robot jockeys were weighty, at 16 - 18 kilograms. They also couldn't survive the desert heat and environment. Improvements were made to these robots, which now weigh just two to three kilograms. The improvements also included two way radio controls and voice control systems.

Nowadays, owners follow the camels in their SUVs along the race track. They scream commands at the robot jockeys through a speaker system. The robots then direct the camels, with a whip to the finish line.

But one thing has not changed, and that is the owners' desire to win.

Ali Zawayed: "I have several camels participating today, and I came first in the 8th stage of the race. The challenge was strong, but thank God, I made it and my camel got first place."