Google’s Amateur Table Tennis Robot Competes in 29 Matches Against Players of Various Skill Levels
ABB Robot Playing Table Tennis with a Human – (Image captured from clip).
On the arXiv database, engineers from Google’s DeepMind AI project have recently announced a remarkable achievement: a robot capable of playing table tennis at an amateur level.
The robot is developed based on the ABB IRB 1100 industrial robotic arm, enhanced with the ability to slide laterally on a rail.
To teach the robot how to play table tennis, researchers employed a two-level approach. Level 1 focused on executing strokes with the paddle, while Level 2 aimed at developing strategies.
The robot’s AI system was trained through observing physical simulations and human matches. After the training process, the robot participated in 29 matches against players of various skill levels.
ABB Robot Playing Table Tennis with a Human – (Image captured from clip).
The results showed that the robot could easily defeat beginners and won more than half of its matches against intermediate players, but it still struggled against highly skilled players.
Google’s Table Tennis Robot Can Compete “On Par” with Humans.
Researchers have identified several weaknesses in the robot, such as slow reactions to fast and high balls, difficulty reading spin shots, and challenges with backhand strokes.
This project represents a significant step forward in the integration of robotics and artificial intelligence, opening up many potential applications for the future.