- "My mission, my business model was to bring robots onto national television. Much like animals were being brought on in the sixties and seventies so that if a picture is worth a thousand words, a video of a robot or a real robot, to me it was worth a million..."
- — Joanne Pransky in a June 2020 interview[1]
Dr. Joanne Pransky (July 15, 1959 - May 4, 2023) was an American robotics enthusiast, futurist and editor who served as a judge for various BattleBots events from 1999 until 2002, before making a one-off return in 2005.
She first held the role during the 1999 Las Vegas event, and was then a mainstay on the judging panel throughout all five televised Comedy Central seasons. She also featured on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as part of a promotional piece for BattleBots.
Pransky upheld the position for the inaugural BattleBots IQ event in 2002, but would not return until BattleBots IQ 2005, which was her last judging role.[2]
Outside BattleBots[]
Joanne Pransky (middle) among the judges during BattleBots IQ 2002.
Known by many as the 'world’s first real Robotic Psychiatrist', Joanne Pransky's work spanned over 25 years and focused on the societal changes arising as a result of robots. Her commitment to robotics saw her dubbed as the ‘real Susan Calvin’ by author Isaac Asimov - a fictional character from the Robot series of science fiction novels written by Asimov.
She studied undergraduate at Tufts University in child and human development, graduating in 1984 with a degree in psychology.[3]
Joanne Pransky has been credited as an inspiration for many young women and girls who sought to learn subjects such as engineering and robotics, devoting herself to promoting women in STEM. She also served as Robotics Industry Ambassador as well as being the US Associate Editor for Industrial Robot Journal. In April 2004, she became associate editor of Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery.
In 2021, she presented a dedicated TED Talk titled 'Robot on the Couch', where she spoke about how society would continue to evolve to allow humans and robots to coexist.[4]
In May 2023, Joanne Pransky passed away. Shortly after, a scholarship in her name and funded by Women in Robotics became available to undergraduate and high school students.[5]
See Also[]
Trivia[]
- Dr. Joanne Pransky also held a judging role for the First Robot/Human Arm Wrestling Competition in May 2005.
References[]
- ↑ https://ageofrobots.net/joanne-pransky-worlds-first-robotic-psychiatrist/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20111014083543/http://www.dancewithshadows.com/tech/battlebots-iq-competition-2005.asp
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joanne_Pransky
- ↑ Robot on the Couch | Joanne Pransky | TEDxSonomaCounty
- ↑ https://bold.org/scholarships/joanne-pransky-celebration-of-women-in-robotics/