Swiss robot displays agility and skill in badminton game with humans

The robot, named ANYmal-D, is equipped with a stereo camera for vision and a robotic arm to swing a racket.

Its movements are controlled by a reinforcement learning system that integrates perception, locomotion, and precise racket handling, according to tech site Interesting Engineering.

ETH Zurich’s Robotics Lab said the system enables the robot to anticipate the shuttlecock’s trajectory and move accordingly to return shots. During tests, it sustained rallies of up to 10 consecutive hits with human players. At times, the robot rose onto its hind legs to keep the shuttlecock in view, while maintaining balance to avoid falling.

However, researchers noted the robot still struggles with fast or aggressive shots, such as smashes, due to hardware limitations in camera speed and actuator performance.

Yuntao Ma, co-author of the study, said the control framework has already been adapted to other tasks, including robotic throwing.

The team aims to improve the robot’s perception and response time to enable longer rallies and eventually full-court matches.

Currently, the system experiences an average delay of 0.375 seconds between an opponent’s shot and the robot’s first swing command.

"Reducing this latency, perhaps through faster cameras or additional sensing modalities, would greatly improve the robot’s ability to intercept faster and more distant shots, enabling longer rallies and more competitive performance," Ma said.