PeopleofSuperintelligence

Builder

Dan Danknick

Dan Danknick is a roboticist and firmware engineer whose work connects robot design with software control. After attending Robot Wars' first event in 1994, he built a robot, led Team Delta, and worked in network software at Canon. He presented robots at DEF CON, advised competitors on radio-control safety, and hosted Robotica's second and third seasons. His patent work covered configurable control for a self-propelled device and remote commands for Tile tracking devices by 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1994–1997

    Building his first robot

    He attends Robot Wars' first event in 1994, then builds his first robot. By 1997, he leads Team Delta and works as a network software engineer at Canon; his background spans physics, electronics, firmware, and application software.

  2. 2000–2001

    Robot designs and safe controls

    In 2000, he presents working robots and explains their designs at DEF CON 8. In 2001, he advises a Robotica competitor on radio failsafes; his RCE110 interface drives a 4QD motor controller to neutral when the receiver signal drops.

  3. 2001–2002

    Hosting Robotica

    From 2001 to 2002, he hosts Robotica's second and third seasons on TLC.

  4. 2012

    A configurable control patent

    He and Adam Wilson file a 2012 patent for controlling a self-propelled device through a dynamically configurable instruction library; the application lists Sphero as its current assignee.

  5. 2026

    A Tile tracking patent

    In 2026, he is named as an inventor on a Tile patent for remote commands to tracking devices.

Career

  1. 2001–2002The Learning ChannelHost
  2. Until 1997Team DeltaLeader
  3. Until 1997Canon Inc.Network software engineer

From the biography.

  1. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI from 1961 to 2025, with a year-by-year chart.
  2. The United States employs an estimated 53% of people in our data with a known employment countryOur estimates of where AI careers are concentrated now and how countries’ shares of dated positions changed over time.
  3. 47% of living people in our data with known birth and employment countries work outside their birth countryOur estimate of cross-border careers in AI, from country of birth and the country of each current organization.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionOur estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Dan Danknick yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Robot Wars: An oral history of the birth and death of BattleBots sbnation.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  2. Team Delta 1997 teamdelta.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  3. Dan Danknick infocondb.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  4. Emails Leading Up to Robotica runamok.tech. Checked 19 October 2026.
  5. Robotica thetvdb.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  6. US20120168240A1 — System and method for controlling a self-propelled device using a dynamically configurable instruction library patents.google.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  7. Issuing remote commands to tracking devices (US 12,659,693 B2) patentsgazette.uspto.gov. Checked 19 October 2026.