Latest news with #YuntaoMa
NDTV
6 days ago
- Science
- NDTV
Watch: Swiss Researchers Develop AI-Powered Robot That Plays Badminton Against Humans
Quick Read Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed. Researchers at ETH Zurich created an AI-powered robot that plays badminton against humans. ANYmal-D is a four-legged robot equipped with a dynamic arm and stereo camera for gameplay. Using reinforcement learning, the robot effectively predicts shuttlecock trajectories and returns shots. Researchers at a Switzerland university have developed an AI-powered legged robot that plays badminton against humans with impressive agility. Researchers at ETH Zurich tested their AI controller on ANYmal-D, a four-legged robot equipped with a stereo camera and a dynamic arm holding a badminton racket, Independent reported. Using reinforcement learning, the robot accurately tracks the shuttlecock's flight, predicts its trajectory, and navigates the court to intercept and return shots. The robot learns by trial and error to make better decisions. The main adaptation was giving it four legs instead of the two used by humans. The configuration gives the robot much more stability and flexibility in movements. Watch a robot play badminton against human players. Learn more: @NewsfromScience — Science Magazine (@ScienceMagazine) June 3, 2025 According to researcher Yuntao Ma, this project highlights AI's potential for enabling legged robots to perform complex tasks, potentially leading to advancements in autonomous and intelligent systems, including humanoids. "We introduced a perception noise model that maps the robot's motion to perception quality. And this allowed the reinforcement learning algorithm to automatically balance between the robot's agile motion and a reliable perception,'' said Mr Ma. "The control algorithm also generalises to other robot platforms such as humanoids and also other tasks such as search and rescue, and home services,'' he added. What happened in the test game? The robot designed for badminton was tested against human players, successfully returning shots at various speeds and angles, achieving rallies of up to 10 hits. Using reinforcement learning, the robot tracked shuttlecocks at speeds of 12.06 m/s, adjusting its gait and balance. The robot was also able to rise on its hind legs for better visibility while prioritising balance. However, it struggled with fast, aggressive shots like smashes due to hardware limitations in camera perception and actuator speed, with a 0.375-second delay in response. Future improvements in perception responsiveness are needed for competitive full-court play. "A key advantage of our approach is that the controller is trained end-to-end—upper and lower limbs are optimised together from the beginning. There is no architectural distinction between coordinating the arm with the legs and coordinating the left and right legs. As a result, the limbs learn to compensate for each other's dynamics naturally during training, leading to coordinated whole-body motion", he told Interesting Engineering (IE).
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GMA Network
6 days ago
- Science
- GMA Network
AI-powered badminton robot trained to play against humans
A Swiss-led team has developed an AI-driven legged robot that can play badminton against human opponents, demonstrating precise coordination and accuracy. Developed at ETH Zurich and detailed in Science Robotics, the robot uses reinforcement learning, a type of AI that improves decision-making through repeated attempts. The robot learns by trial and error to make better decisions. Its AI combines vision, movement, and arm control, enabling the robot to track the shuttlecock and hit it accurately. A perception noise model, trained on real-world camera data, ensures the robot maintains consistent performance. "We introduced a perception noise model that maps the robot's motion to perception quality. And this allowed the reinforcement learning algorithm to automatically balance between the robot's agile motion and a reliable perception,'' said Yuntao Ma, a member of the team of researchers who have developed the badminton robot. Ma believes this project showcases AI's potential to advance legged robots in complex tasks, paving the way for advancements in autonomous, intelligent systems, including humanoids. "The control algorithm also generalizes to other robot platforms such as humanoids and also other tasks such as search and rescue, and home services,'' he said. — Reuters
The Independent
6 days ago
- Science
- The Independent
Watch: AI-powered robot learns to play badminton against humans
An artificial intelligence -driven legged robot has been trained to play badminton against human opponents with impressive agility. It has been developed by a Swiss -led team at ETH Zurich, who used reinforcement learning — a type of AI that improves decision-making by learning from repeated attempts. The robot can follow the shuttlecock and hit it precisely in fast-paced games. It accurately predicts shuttlecock trajectories, navigates the game area, and competes with human players. Researcher Yuntao Ma believes it showcases AI's potential to drive legged robots in complex tasks, which could pave the way for future advancements in autonomous, intelligent systems, including humanoids.
