"A robot that beats humans at table football" is the slightly crazy project of a group of master's students from the Automation Laboratory. This robot plays the ball like a real pro. And in a short time, he could well surpass the best players on the planet...
At first glance, the Roberto Sport table football, which sits in the middle of the Automation Laboratory, seems completely ordinary. A box, bars, players... But upon closer inspection, you'll notice that one side of the table football is controlled by a mechanical arm, that the playing surface is transparent, and that a camera is hidden underneath the table football. And here we begin to understand the operating principle of this astonishing mechanical player.
The camera that films the playing surface from below is an ultra-fast camera that detects the ball and sends the "information" to a first computer. This computer processes the data in record time to send an "order" to a second computer that controls the arm mechanism. It's the same principle as for a human being: the eye sees, the brain thinks, the arm acts.
The students in charge of the project (including Martin and Cyril in the photo) admit to having some difficulty coordinating the two computers. According to them, the robot would be more efficient by condensing the processes onto a single machine.
Human purists can rest assured: this robot player is not currently capable of performing complex shots that only the best players have mastered. They are therefore still capable of beating this infernal mechanical arm. But a computer learns quickly! And above all, it can take into account many more parameters than a human brain, process data more quickly, and not forget its ability to anticipate ball trajectories. Currently, the robotic arm (sorry, it doesn't have a name yet!) is already capable of shooting faster than a human. That's promising!
Christophe Salzmann, the researcher leading the project, doesn't rule out the possibility of a match composed entirely of robots. But for that, we'll have to wait a few more years...
It's amazing what you can do with a lot of ingenuity, a robot, and a Roberto Sport foosball table! Finally, if you prefer quality foosball tables without artificial intelligence, our selection of Roberto Sport foosball tables on sale will meet your expectations:
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