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Viral video: Robot moves swiftly, gives tough competition to human in tennis
A video of a robot playing tennis with a human has prompted varied reactions on social media.
Imagine stepping onto a tennis court and facing an opponent that never tires and reacts with millisecond precision. A cutting-edge robot is doing that, giving human players a not-so-easy competition. A fascinating video has recently surfaced on social media, capturing a match where the robot covers the court with incredible agility. The footage shows the machine returning powerful serves.
Humanoid robot manufacturing firm Galbot shared the video on X. “Your humanoid tennis player is here,” the company wrote.
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The tech company introduced LATENT, a Learning Athletic Humanoid Tennis Skills from Imperfect Human Motion Data. Galbot claims that the humanoid is the world’s first real-time whole-body planning and control algorithm for athletic humanoid tennis.
The company explained, “For the first time, a humanoid robot can sustain high-dynamic, long-horizon tennis rallies with millisecond-level reactions, precise ball striking, and natural whole-body motion. This marks a leap from mechanical motion imitation to intelligent, decision-driven athletic interaction.”
How did social media react?
An individual commented, “The robot can return balls fed to it. I would love to see a video of a robot vs a professional tennis player, or see it serve a ball.” The company responded, “That's such a great idea! We'll do a video of it.”
Another expressed, “If it can return a couple of lobs now, then within months it will be better than most humans.” A third commented, “No surprise. As in chess or Go, the time is coming when robotic AI will be able to beat any human in any game. I could see it (eventually) returning everything as an unreachable ace. The far larger question/significance regards how this tech will be used?”
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A fourth wrote, “Good for learning and training on one’s own- I used to play on something called a comeback- the tennis ball would swing on a piece of elasticised rubber and kept me busy for quite a while. Robots can become good teachers, maybe.”
About Galbot:
Galbot, established in May 2023, produces cutting-edge general-purpose robotic products for global users. The company has R&D centres in Beijing, Shenzhen, Suzhou, and Hong Kong. Additionally, it has established joint laboratories/research centres with Peking University, Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence (BAAI), Xuanwu Hospital, and Beijing Zhongguancun College.
