TWIL #118 - Robot Ping-Pong

Every week, I share something I learned in the previous seven days. I usually find these while I'm putting my weekly newsletter together but somehow, they don't quite fit! This week I learned the scientists have developed a robot that plays Table Tennis (Ping-Pong) using AI guidance. Turns out, its pretty good!Ping-pong robot Ace makes history by beating top-level human playersAn autonomous robot ping-pong player dubbed Ace has achieved a milestone for AI and robotics in Tokyo by competing against and sometimes defeating top-level human players at table tennis, a feat that could presage an array of other applications for similarly adept robots. Ace, created by the Japanese company Sony’s ‌AI research division, is the first robot to attain expert-level performance in a competitive physical sport, one that requires rapid decisions and precision execution, the project’s leader said. ‌Ace did so by employing high-speed perception, AI-based control and a state-of-the-art robotic system.…