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An
advanced robot developed by Japanese electronics company Omron has
recently been certified by Guinness World Records as the world’s first
robot table tennis tutor. FORPHEUS (Future Omron Robotics Technology for
Exploring Possibility of Harmonized Automation with Sinic Theoretics)
used machine learning to asses the skills of a human player, adjust its
game accordingly and provide tips to help opponents improve their
technique.
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Unveiled at the Ceatec electronics show in Japan in 2014, FORPHEUS has
come a long way in the last three years, especially after developers
made a breakthrough in artificial intelligence. Originally designed to
showcase Omron’s sensor technology, the table tennis-playing robot has
now become a Guinness-certified tutor thanks to machine learning. It
analyzes data like the human player’s movement, the speed of the ball
and the trajectory to determine his opponent’s skill level with around
90% accuracy. FORPHEUS then uses this information to adjust its play
style – slow and and easy for beginners, faster and more unpredictable
for advanced players.
FORPHEUS is equipped with two vision sensors that identify the movement
of the ball, and one motion sensor that monitors the movement of the
opponent. A controller analyses the speed of the ball at one thousands
times per second, allowing to predict where it is going to land and
react accordingly. The AI component can also determine the spot where
the return from FORPHEUS will land with an accuracy of withing 5
centimeters, and this is projected on a screen so that the human
“students” can prepare and improve their game.
The special net of FORPHEUS’ ping pong table also acts as a digital
display, where the human players can see encouraging messages aimed to
motivate them, like “Good job!” or “Hang in there!”, but also valuable
tips aimed to help them step up their game.
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“At the moment it is a human who teaches a robot how to behave or
teach,” said FORPHEUS developer Taku Oya. “But in the next 20 years it
may be possible that a robot teaches a robot or a robot develops a
robot.” That may sound sci-fi, but the idea is in line with what most
experts believe will happen as artificial intelligence becomes more
advanced.
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