Float like a butterfly sting like a bee.
Those are the well-known words of late boxing legend Muhammad Ali. You might not make the connection at first, but the game of badminton is taking a page out of the great’s book through the use of a robot that can float just like Ali’s fancy footwork, and swiftly strike like his quick jab.
Deemed the “Robomintoner,” the bot is the first of its kind looking to push an individual’s badminton skills to the next level. Designed by researchers at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, the bot competes against human competitors at a solid amateur skill level.
According to Slate.com, the robot “operates using two HD cameras mounted on it that video to a more powerful computer, which processes the movement of the shuttlecock and sends back instructions for how the robot should position itself and when it should swing its racquets. The robot is equipped with two racquets, each oriented differently, to make different types of shots.”
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The robot has competed against the likes of badminton champion, Dong Jiong, and Chinese premier, Li Keqiang. Although it has not won or beaten any professional competitor for that matter, the souped up Wall-E has some serious game.
The bot has battled competitors at amateur badminton leagues, but its hopes to break into the market soon as designers plan to commercially sell the robot and make it available for purchase for the average consumer thanks to the sport’s immense popularity in China.
In an interview with CCTV, Luo Deyuan, a mechatronic researcher who worked closely on the project, said the bot’s problem during development was giving it the ability to recognize and track its own location in space. “Currently there’s no perfect system in the world for a robot to locate itself indoors. The technology used in the Robomintoner is actually very advanced. No matter how it moves on the court, as long as it’s got battery, it will know its exact location,” said Deyuan.
The future of badminton shines brighter than the sun reflecting off the bot’s black and yellow paint job (it’s clean on the inside and clean on the outside). Robomintoner looks to up active play of the sport among other countries and will continue to play some of the best players across the globe.