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Ping Pong Playing Robot To Seek Factory Job

Michael Kanellos
This article is more than 6 years old.

Chiba, Japan—To be honest, the Umron ping pong playing robot can barely hold its own on the table.

But it could be far handier in a work environment.

The robot—being shown off at the CEATEC trade show outside of Tokyo this week—does pretty much as advertised. A human hits a ping pong ball toward it, it gauges the speed and trajectory of the ball and hits it back.

While it can muster between four to twenty volleys, it loses most of its games. If you slammed the ball, it would probably miss. (Omron says it dials down the performance and hits straight into the net so humans don't feel bad. That could be the case, but they didn't show it unleashed either.)

The idea, however, is not to create a world champion. Instead, Omron is using the prototype to explore more flexible, intelligent robots for factories or other work environments. Most factory robots perform repetitive, routine tasks: drill three precisely placed holes through a piece of sheet metal and move onto the next one.

Omron’s prototype is being designed to adapt to dynamic, changing environments. The ultimate goal would be to have a “pick and place” robot that could discriminate between different types of components and assemble something that might be slightly different than the next assembly job coming down the line.

The prototype’s sensors track the speed and location of the ball, the motion of the racket and the movements of the opposing player, among other parameters. It then quickly calculates how to react. In that way, it “thinks” more than conventional robots because it is adjusting its behavior to unpredictable stimuli. Underneath the hood, Omron equips the robot with five motors and computer vision algorithms.

Omron is also working on humanizing the robot so man and machine can get along. The simulated facial expression on the screen (see photo) change with every shot. The praying mantis body shape also begins to grow on you. It becomes less menacing the longer you play it.

The robot was shown earlier this year in China because it’s a key market, a company representative said, and ping pong is a national passion.

In some ways, the robot concepts Omron is working with best what U.S. companies like Rethink Robotics are experimenting with. Rethink is aiming for the same goal: a robot that can adjust to its existing circumstances and mostly get along with people. But Rethink's robots look like people, right down to their mechanical fingers. Someone will feel displaced. Omron's robot is like a giant, but pliable, praying mantis. You could see getting along with it.


I have been writing about the intersection of science and ambition for over 20 years. (Disclosure: I am currently a technology analyst and head of communications at OSIsoft, but this has nothing to do with that and I rigorous avoid conflicts of interest.It's my promise to you.). I've also worked at Greentech Media, CNET, Computer Reseller News, SanDisk and Eastwick. CMP. My work has also been published in Forbes, the New York Times, National Geographic, Wired and other places. I've visited the Orkney Islands to study wave power, filtered through reams of SEC documents, quizzed Elon Musk about EVs, and volunteered twice to be electrocuted. All for the sake of entertaining readers.