KiRo: Robot Foosball Player

Posted 5 Sep 2004 at 14:54 UTC by steve

Roboticists at the University of Freiburg in Germany have perfected a robotic foosball table that allows a human to play against the machine. The intelligent software within the table has two modes; "reactive mode", in which it simple whacks the ball as hard and often as possible, and "strategic mode" in which the software does look-aheads based on the dynamics of the ball. The software never cheats by spinning and yet is able to score as often as once every 36 seconds. The university is licensing the technology to a gaming company, so you may soon be seeing a robot foosball table in a bar or club near you. For more information see the KiRo website or read the research presentation, KiRo - The Table Soccer Robot (PDF format).