You may not think of badminton as a sport on the cutting edge of technology, but boy is it ever. Researchers from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China have been working on analyzing and modeling the game—not to optimize human performance, but to build a robotic opponent.
“Robomintoner” currently plays at a solid amateur human level. The robot has two HD cameras mounted on it that stream video to a more powerful computer, which processes the movement of the shuttlecock and sends back instructions for how the robot should position itself and when it should swing its racquets. The robot is equipped with two racquets, each oriented differently, to make different types of shots.
China Central Television reports that, among others, it has faced off with badminton champion Dong Jiong and Chinese premier Li Keqiang—though it hasn’t had any major victories over human badminton professionals quite yet. The robot also played in an amateur badminton competition in April, according to the Daily Mail, and may be sold commercially as a badminton buddy since the sport is quite popular in China.
A particularly tricky part of building the bot was getting it to recognize and track its own location in space, says Luo Deyuan, a mechatronics researcher who worked on the project. He told CCTV, “Currently there’s no perfect system in the world for a robot to locate itself indoors. The technology used in the Robomintoner is actually very advanced. No matter how it moves on the court, as long as it’s got battery, it will know its exact location.”
If the Olympics ever adds a robot division it would be fun to see the Robomintoner go for gold.
