We don’t have to watch science fiction to see how advanced Artificial Intelligence is today. There are new robots introduced every day with abilities that never stop amazing us. We have robots that can help us with domestic errands, robots that can teach us, robots that can rescue us and also robots that can entertain us. Here are 12 super cool sport robots that can actually play with us.
Cleatus Fox Football Robot
Via: Stock Car Spin
One of the most famous robots of its kind, Cleatus the robot is the official mascot of Fox NFL Sunday. More than just a sleek appearance, he can do a lot of silly things, from his touchdown celebrations, to showing off his karate moves, and even throwing up during a post-New Years hangover. Sometimes, he could be seen waving a checkered flag upon the network’s return from a commercial break.
X-Skate R/C Skateboarding Robot
Via: Nerd Approved
This X-Skate is an advanced robot toy that can ramp off of the box which is designed to be turned into a small skateboarding ramp. It can perform various skateboarding tricks like hitting jumps, moving forward and backward, turning left and right under infrared control.
PLEN Skateboarding Robot
Via: Mobile Whack
Standing only 9 inches tall and weight 1.54 pounds, PLEN is an adorable robot created by a team of developer from Systec Akazawa. Not only can PLEN skateboard, it can also take to a bit of roller skating, and show some gymnastic skills while skateboarding.
Ping Pong Paddle Wielding Robots
University of Washington has used optimal control algorithms to create this ping pong paddle wielding robot. It can keep a steady beat going with a single ping pong ball, and can jog back and forth effortlessly while keeping track of the constantly moving ping pong ball.
Robo-Pong
Robo-Pong is a wonderful ping pong robot that can help you as a trainer, a friend and a practice partner. It allows you to play the two player game when there is nobody else to play with you, and it can get you in shape for the quick and challenging rivals.
Swing Shot Tennis Robot
Never have to look for a tennis partner again with this innovative Swing Shot tennis robot. The robot has the ability to serve balls between a variety of speeds as well as a variety of pitches, such as spin, lob & smash. But this partner doesn’t come cheap. Prepare yourself a whooping $8400 if you want to bring it home.
Jada Badminton Robot
Forget about tennis, badminton is officially the fastest racket sport on earth. Yet you can still find a robotic partner for your crazy badminton birdie. For now, Jada, the badminton robot developed by Flanders Mechanotrics Technology Centre in Louvain, Belgium, can only turn right and left. But its creators plan to take its game to a new level with complex plays and more freedom of movement soon.
Crabfu Golf Robot
Via: Makezine
Putter Bot from Crabfu is a remote-controlled robot that’s designed to do just one thing – putt the ball. It can’t do anything fancy like hitting a 200 yard tee shot, nor can it get out of a sand trap, but it can gently tap the ball into the hole from a few club-lengths away.
RoboCup Golf Ball Return Robot
RoboCup Golf Ball Return Robot cannot actually challenge your golfing skills, but it will make your game much more fun. The robot can automatically return the golf balls up to a distance of 14 feet. It can also return back missed shots thanks to Caddy Cord.
PR2 Pool Playing Robot
The PR2 pool playing robot might not win any robotic beauty contest due to its unaesthetic appearance, but it will definitely make a wonderful pool partner. Developed by William Garage, PR2 has a high-resolution camera with a color ball tracker that helps the robot to differentiate the balls and locate them on a pool table. The robot can play the game following standard rules of pool and have the same vantage point as a human player would.
Baseball Robot
Via: Pink Tentacle
To demonstrate the latest advances in high-speed industrial robot technology, researchers at the University of Tokyo have created a baseball-pitching robotic arm against a mechanical batter with a near-perfect swing. The robot pitcher consists of a high-speed, three-fingered hand mounted on a mechanical arm which combines the technology from both University of Tokyo and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Boxing Fighter
Via: Boing Boing
Boxing Fighter is one fun DIY robot that you can do for yourself. The set comes with a twin motor gear box enabling this little boxer that can punch while moving backwards, forwards or turning to the left or right. The set also has a judging plate t for you to decide who the winner of the fight is.
Bonus: Robocup Soccer World Cup
Robots’ soccer skills have been so developed that there is a soccer world cup for them too. The Robot Football World Cup or RoboCup is one of the largest and most important event for intelligent and autonomous robots. The cup attracts tens of the best robot teams from all over the world.
Super Bonus: Robot Footbal League
Via: Robotic Football League
And there is also an American football league for robots. The rules of Robot Football League or RFL, as it is called, mimic American rules football. Teams can be from 3 to 6 players on each team.
