If you’re looking for a vaguely frightening realization of just how good robots are getting at activities that require a high degree of optical precisions and fine motor control, than the video above has exactly what you need. In a promotional short film created by robotics company KUKA (via Slate), we see a manufacturing robot take on ping pong champion Timo Boll, with surprising results.… Read More
Robots might not be in line to take over the world from us humans (yet), but this does not mean that they are not biding their time. After all, robots have certainly helped us out in the industrialization of the nations. Just take a stroll through any high tech factory, and you will see how robots have made life a whole lot more efficient in the manufacturing process. How about in the world of sports? Robots are still far from edging out a human especially in team sports, but in a one-on-one face off like a game of ping pong, humans might have met their match. We do know that Timo Boll would be going bat-to-bat against the KUKA robot real soon, but with the one handed Ulf Hoffman Tischtennis Roboter (Ulf Hoffman Table Tennis Robot), or UHTTR-1 for short, do ordinary people like you and me who play ping pong recreationally stand a chance?
The KUKA Robot Group is already hyping its upcoming match next week between one of its robotic arms and professional table tennis champion Timo Boll. But hobbiest engineers can make ping-pong bots too. Here’s Ulf Hoffmann’s garage version, which is surprisingly competitive given its amateur status.
Back in 2011 we featured a couple of humanoid robots designed to play table tennis. Industrial mechanic Ulf Hoffman recently unveiled a similar robot that he and his friends have been working on for the past couple of years. He calls it the Ulf Hoffman Tischtennis Roboter (Ulf Hoffman Table Tennis Robot) or UHTTR-1 for short.
As you can see the robot’s arm is on a rail mounted at one of the ends of a ping pong table. It’s made of aluminum, making it light enough for its servos to rapidly ferry it across the length of the table. It may only have one arm, but the robot has two things we don’t have: a second pair of eyes. Four cameras mounted at the top corners of the room track the ball’s position and send that data to the UHTTR-1′s software.
Ulf hasn’t said much about the robot’s program, but as you can see it has a variety of settings that help define its play style, including speed and spin. It even seems to have difficulty levels. I’m a bit worried about that “Evolve” setting.
We didn’t see it put to the test in the video, but I think you can beat the robot with a well-placed drop shot. Then again when you’re dealing with a robot that can evolve, all bets are off. Grip your browser and head to Ulf’s blog for more on his robot.
It’s no Forrest Gump but this moving one armed robot is plenty good at ping pong. And may be even better than you. Watch it extend its arm to cover ground, cycle through backhand and forehand shots and hit the ball so effortlessly that it seems like an invisible human is controlling it.
You’ve seen robots hike over rocks and dominate a foosball table, but have you ever watched a machine face off against a human ping pong champion, Forrest Gump-style? Well, March 11 is your lucky day.
Billiard tables have become bonafide works of art that some people furnish entire rooms around—but ping pong tables are only just catching up. But the hideous green folding contraptions of yesteryear are quickly being replaced with sleek pieces like this gorgeous Bola Service Table designed by Barcelona-based studio A.P.O.
They say that all work and no play makes Jack (or Jane, in this politically correct world that we live in these days) a dull boy/girl, but the kind of “play” that kids seem to want to be involved in these days tend to feature some sort of electronic component or another, such as a smartphone, tablet, or portable game console. The number of kids that live a sedentary lifestyle seem to have swelled a whole lot more as the country grows to be even more prosperous. Well, the $149.95 Kitchen Table Tennis might help them change their mind, as it would be a suitable purchase for anyone living in a cramped apartment to make best use of the space within.
The Kitchen Table Tennis would enable you to set up a game of table tennis in double quick time on your kitchen table or island. The table itself is capable of unfolding itself to the measurements of 84″ x 42″ x 1/4″, which can then be set onto any flat surface. The set will come with a 4″ high net alongside posts that clip to the board at either end so that your precious dining table’s finish will not be marred in any way, and yet helping ensure that the net remains taut during play. The table itself can reverses to reveal separate chess/checkers and backgammon boards for that added variety, now how about that for versatility? [ Kitchen Table Tennis makes the best use of your home’s limited space copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
The problem with ping pong—as cool as it is—is its complete and utter lack of insane, borderline seizure-inducing visuals. We can all agree on that, right? Well you don’t have to worry anymore; the Pingtime augmented reality table has got that covered.
It’s undeniable the “sport” of beer pong has become extremely popular over the years for college-aged young people as well as the occasional adult get-together where beer, red plastic cups and beer are readily available. But as of now, there are no places outside a dorm room where you can show off your beer pong talents, that is, until this Beer Pong Arcade Machine starts rolling out to the fifteen arcades left in the U.S.
Beer Pong Master was created by Bay Tek Games and shown off at a recent Nightclub & Bar Show in Las Vegas. The game allows up to four players to play as you test your beer pong skills against a 60-second timer. Just as in real-life beer pong, the objective is to throw your ping pong ball into one of the red plastic cups, although Beer Pong Master keeps cups that need to be filled lit up, while dimming cups containing a ping pong ball. (more…)
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