Pool-playing robot rivals humans

June 10, 2011 | Source: New Scientist TV

(Credit: Technical University of Munich)

A pool-playing robot has been developed by researchers at the Technical University of Munich, Germany.

The robot has two arms that can move in seven different ways. Cameras mounted above the table track the position of the balls and cue, and feed this information to the robot’s computers.

It can then decide on the best move and calculate how the arms should be oriented to complete the stroke. To get into position, it rolls around the table using predetermined coordinates.

The system doesn’t only help the robot, it can also assist human players. The ceiling camera is hooked up to a projector that overlays information about how to hit each ball to successfully sink it.

The robot was presented at theĀ International Conference for Robotics and Automation last month.