Viral video: Robot moves swiftly, gives tough competition to human in tennis

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.Snippets from a video showing a robot playing tennis with a human. (X/@GalbotRobotics)Humanoid robot manufacturing firm Galbot shared the video on X. “Your humanoid tennis player is here,” the company wrote.Also Read: Viral video: Robot smashes plates in restaurant, then starts dancing. Staff tries hard to stop itThe 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?”Also Read: Humanoid robot escorted away police after startling elderly woman in Macau. WatchA 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.