BD25 robot dog meets fans at Bradford City match
Bradford City fans were treated to an unusual visitor at their team’s latest match - the University of Bradford’s robot dog.
The mechanical mutt, nicknamed BD25 in honour of Bradford 2025, appeared at City’s home, the University of Bradford Stadium, before their 3-1 win over Newport County in Sky Bet League Two on Monday 7 October, which was shown live on Sky Sports.
BD25, who is handled by the University’s School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences, met fans before kick-off and at half-time in the concourse of the Morrisons Family Stand.
The dog appeared to encourage Bantams fans to take part in a University of Bradford project.
‘Stories from Valley Parade’ sees academics creating a digital copy of the club’s home ground, which people will be able to access through virtual reality (VR).
Participants are asked to fill out an online form, answering questions about their experience of supporting Bradford City, nicknamed the Bantams.
The fans’ stories will be shared with artists to turn into poems, pictures or films and attached to different places in both the physical and digital copy of the stadium for people to view (and share).
The Boston Dynamics robot dog, funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council, can be equipped with different payloads, 3D laser scanners, and other sensors including a mobile mapping kit and 360 cameras.
Professor Andrew Wilson, from the School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences at the University of Bradford, who also appeared at the match with BD25, said: “It was a unique way to encourage fans to take part in the ‘Stories from Valley Parade’ project.
Thankfully, BD25 behaved itself and we’re grateful that it got a good reception from the fans during the appearance
The project’s online form asks for fans to share memories of their first Bantams match, most memorable game, how they started supporting the club, family members’ memories of following the Bantams, where they sit at the University of Bradford Stadium and what it means to be a Bradford City supporter.
The survey also includes a question on how people and communities supported each other following the fire at the stadium on May 11, 1985, which claimed 56 lives and injured 258 others.
The stories will be revealed during the Bradford 2025 City of Culture celebrations.
Professor Wilson and Professor Chris Gaffney, Professor of Archaeological Science at the University of Bradford, promoted the project to fans during a pitchside interview with Bradford City stadium announcer Darren Harper during half-time of the Newport clash.
A Bradford City spokesperson said: “We were delighted to welcome BD25 to the University of Bradford Stadium for our match against Newport County.
We hope BD25’s appearance encourages our supporters to take part in the University’s exciting project
‘Stories from Valley Parade’ is the latest project from the University’s School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences.
Virtual Bradford, a high-resolution 3D online twin of the city centre, is a collaboration between the University of Bradford and the council, part-funded by the European Union SCORE (Smart Cities + Open Data Re-Use) project. It is a ‘brick for brick’ digital replica of Bradford city centre, which explores virtual replicas of buildings before they are built, to taking tours of the city to see what it looked like in Victorian times, checks live pollution counts and much more.
Researchers from Visualising Heritage - a research team from the School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences at the University - spent two years collecting data, digital imagery and drone data to develop the digital twin before it was first unveiled to the public in 2022.