The robots, Wu and Kong process 120 images a second, and compute exactly where a ball is going to land, then hydraulic joints spring into action to return the ball. <img alt="" src="/imagedata/2012/jul/robots123.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 366px; " /> Representational picture At present, the robots - built at Zhejiang University - play at a leisurely pace by human standards - but their creators hope that their successors will be able to compete with humans. The robots are equipped with eye-mounted cameras that send 120 images per second to a processor which responds almost instantly with information about the ball&rsquo;s landing position and trajectory. That information is sent to individually powered joints which, according to robotics lab director Xiong Rong, give Wu and Kong their unique playing prowess. &ldquo;We chose to design table tennis playing robots because it is very Chinese and involves a lot of technologies, such as recognising the speed and positioning of an object and predicting its moving path,&rdquo; the Daily Mail quoted Rong as saying. &ldquo;The robots must be able to respond quickly and control their body movement, and keep balance at the same time,&rdquo; the lab director said. For now, the robots are too slow to present a serious challenge to human players - but are useful as a training aid. The robots also can&rsquo;t move rapidly from side to side like a human player - but that will change, the students said. So far, the project has taken four years. &ldquo;Their main purpose is for partner training. Our aim was to develop robot training partners which could return the ball to the correct position for a human player. That is to say, no matter where the ball lands, the robot can return it to the right place for you,&rdquo; student Zhang Yifeng said.

Students from a Chinese university have unveiled two table tennis playing robots that can serve and return using eye-mounted cameras and high-powered built-in computers

Now, robots that play ping-pong

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Now, robots that play ping-pong

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