Do not be surprised when a cobot arm hands over a shuttle to their local hero and world No. 1 men singles shuttler Viktor Axelsen or to other world-class players at the Denmark Open starting today.

Not only that, robots will also carry these players’ bags on to the court at the Jyske Bank Arena innOdense. They will also distribute magazines and serve drinks.

In fact, these collaborative robots or cobots will be seen everywhere in Odense as one of the top badminton tournaments gets underway this week. These robots will be seen in action on court from the semi-finals onwards.

This week is also Week of Robotics, where more than one thousand robotics experts will gather.

Badminton Denmark, who are hosting the home Open for the 18th time in Odense, are thrilled that robots are taking part in the tournament.

“With the robots, we have added another layer to our longstanding cooperation with Odense and Destination Fyn. In international badminton, we have led the way in the overall event set-up. With these robot initiatives, we once again stand out – in a fun manner and by pushing the boundaries of using technology.

“It certainly adds an extra dimension to the spectator experience and creates a futuristic atmosphere that we look forward to develop even more in the years to come,” says Kristian Langbak, Chief Operation Officer at Badminton Denmark.

It’s a part of massive city branding and business promotion initiative in Odense, which is one of the world’s leading robot cities.

“Odense is an international robotics hub, so it’s only natural that robots play a part in Denmark Open. With millions of followers globally, this tournament presents a huge branding opportunity,” said Peter Rahbaek Juel, mayor of Odense,

“This year, we will amplify our efforts by making the tournament the kick-off for the city’s first ever Week of Robotics, where we will gather more than one thousand robotics experts at three international robotic conferences. We want to show that hosting one of the world’s greatest badminton tournaments in the world’s leading robotics city is something special.”

Odense is internationally recognised as a leading robotics hub, in particular within the field of collaborative and mobile robots.

These robots can work alongside humans and help with routine and physically demanding tasks – exactly the way these robots will do at the home Open, boosting business through badminton.

Badminton is hugely popular in Asia. At the same time, Asia is the world’s biggest robot market accounting for 70% of all newly installed industrial robots, according to the newly released IFR World Robotics report.

“That’s why it makes good business sense to combine robots and badminton,” said Sore Elmer Kristensen, CEO at Denmark’s national robot cluster, Odense Robotics.

“We are thrilled that Denmark Open will showcase Odense and Denmark as a leader with collaborative and mobile robots to its global audience and Asia in particular.

“As the world’s largest market for industrial robots, Asia is a key market for many Danish robotics companies. Integrating robots in the tournament experience is a novel approach to branding Danish robotics solutions globally, not least to the Asian market.”

To let Denmark Open be invaded by robots is a wise branding and business move, says Kenneth Cortsen, PhD and researcher in sports branding at University College of Northern Denmark.

According to Cortsen, the FIFA World Cup’s way of bringing the match ball on to the court by a tiny remote-controlled Volkswagen in 2022 is one of few examples with the same creative brand activation: “Asians love badminton and the sport is such a cultural phenomenon in that part of the world, so there is a great opportunity to get one’s message across through the tournament.

“To be able to show collaborative robots in between smash and clear is one of the best and most innovative examples of city branding I have witnessed.”

Not fewer than 1,200 visitors will attend three international robotics conferences – ROSCon, International Conference on Social Robotics and ROS Industrial Conference.’