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The phrase ‘the future is now’ often gets tossed around willy-nilly but in this situation, it seems quite apt. A Chinese robotics company, Galbot, recently demonstrated how their humanoid robot can play tennis.
Why Tennis? It is believed to be one of the most difficult tests of human agility and represents a significant milestone for a humanoid robot to be able to keep up with the lateral movements required and constant adjustments needed on the court.
Chinese Robot Plays Tennis Like A Human
Of course, the implication here is that if a Chinese robot is capable of playing tennis then it is also capable of doing a LOT more… Like navigating difficult terrain, dodging oncoming attacks, etc.
Robotics firm Galbot demonstrated the tennis-playing robot while announcing LATENT (Learning Athletic Humanoid Tennis Skills from Imperfect Human Motion Data). They are calling this “the world’s first real-time whole-body planning and control algorithm for athletic humanoid tennis.”
Galbot added this is “the first time a humanoid robot can sustain high-dynamic, long-horizon tennis rallies with millisecond-level reactions, precise ball striking, and natural whole-body motion.” Are we finally living in the future? Check out this footage and you be the judge.
Now, the real question I have is how many of you out there are capable of beating this robot in tennis? I probably pick up a racket once every 5 years and I still fancy my chances against a robot simply by being able to place the ball in areas the robot cannot swiftly reach.
Is there an easy, hard, and expert mode? Can they crank up the intensity on the robot and have it sprinting around the court like a semi-pro? What kind of index are we talking here for the robot?
Lastly, will these tennis robots eventually make for suitable practicing partners for human beings? Does this mark the beginning of the end for man-on-man scrimmaging in practice??
Meanwhile, robots in Germany are already replacing human beings at BMW. They are replacing human delivery drivers in Los Angeles and elsewhere here in the US, with mixed results.
Are we oxygen breathing human beings becoming obsolete by the minute??