AssetID: 55019172
Headline: RAW VIDEO: Swiss Engineers Create Badminton-Playing Robot
Caption: Watch out racket sport maestros, because Swiss researchers have built a robot that can play badminton. Though, according to researchers, the robot’s level is that of a seven-year-old child - so it’s not quite ready to take on humans competitively yet - it can competently hold a friendly rally and move around a court. The ETH Zurich team, led by Professor Marco Hutter, an expert in robotic systems, has developed a control system that allows a four-legged robot to track, predict and return shots. The machine, known as ANYmal, uses two cameras to follow the shuttlecock and calculate its flight path. It then positions itself to intercept and hit the return shot, coordinating its leg movements, strokes and camera vision in real time. In a video released by the university, postdoctoral researcher Andrei Cramariuc explains how the team trained the robot and the technical challenges involved. “The robot has two cameras,” he says. “And when a person hits the shuttle it looks for the colour. In a mathematical way it calculates where it is and where it is going to land. It has a controller that moves the robot and executes the shot itself. “When you are running for a shuttle it is easy to lose track of what your limbs are doing so all this is very challenging,” he adds. The robot was taught how to play badminton through reinforcement learning - as it was taken through a simulator where it could trial and error thousands and thousands of virtual shots, eventually learning how to play the game. “Sports are very challenging,” Cramariuc admits. “Because it requires a lot of fast moving dynamics. It pushes the limits of the system and by pushing the limits we make iterative improvements on the control of the robot and its systems.” The robotics expert now hopes to improve the robot’s badminton skills so it’s a match for a human player in a competitive game. ANYmal was originally designed as a quadrupedal robot capable of operating autonomously in difficult terrain. In previous experiments, researchers even added wheels, turning it into a hybrid “roller-walking” machine able to adapt to more complex environments.
Keywords: robotics,feature,photo,switzerland,sports,badminton,robots
PersonInImage: The ETH Zurich team putting their badminton playing robot through its paces.