The world's very first robot table tennis tutor in Japan has officially set a new Guinness World Record for its uncanny ability of being able to play the sport better than most humans. FORPHEUS (Future Omron Robotics Technology for Exploring Possibility of Harmonized AUtomation with Sinic Theoretics) has officially been given the Guinness World Record title for its unique technological intelligence and educational capabilities.
About FORPHEUS And What It Can Do
According to The Hindu, Taku Oya, the project's lead developer from Omron Corporation, said that the goal of FORPHEUS is to harmonize humans and robots, by means of teaching the game of table tennis to human players. The machine is easily able to act itself as a coach, thanks to its cutting-edge vision and motion sensors that it can use to gage movement during a specific match.
FORPHEUS also features an array of cameras that are located above the ping pong table that constantly monitors the position of the ball at an impressive rate of 80 times per second. This functionality will allow the robot to show its human student to see a projected image as to where the returning ball will land so that they may improve their skills.
Challenges During Development
According to Fox News, one of the most difficult aspects of the project was determining the different algorithms needed and required in order for artificial intelligence that would help FORPHEUS determine just how well human participants play the game.
But, once the perfect computation of algorithm was determined and established, it was only a matter of designing a speed-sensing component that would then calculate the opponent's ball at one thousand times per second, before the robot was more than a viable tutor. FORPHEUS encourages players to try their very best by showing supportive messages along the LED screen that is situated on the table's net.
