Sony AI robot Ace wins matches against skilled table tennis players

In short: Sony AI researchers say their table tennis robot, Ace, can play real matches under official rules and has beaten some skilled human players.

What happened

Sony AI, a research team at Sony, built a robot called Ace that is designed to play table tennis at a very high level. In a study published in the journal Nature, the researchers described how Ace competed in matches that followed the official rules.

Ace is not just a computer that plays a video game. It has to deal with the real world, where the ball can move in unexpected ways. Think of it like trying to return a serve when the ball suddenly spins and dips, except the robot has to notice that, decide what to do, and move its arm in a fraction of a second.

The system has three main parts. It uses sensors and cameras to track the ball, including its spin, which changes how it flies and bounces. It uses artificial intelligence, which is software that helps it make choices, to decide how to respond in real time. It also has a fast robotic arm with eight joints to move the paddle quickly and accurately.

In tests, Ace played five high-level amateur players and won three of five matches. It also played two professional players in Japan’s league, Minami Ando and Kakeru Sone, and won one out of seven matches. The researchers said Ace scored points mostly through control, returning about 75 percent of the balls it faced.

Why it matters

Robots are often good at tasks in controlled settings, but sports are messy and fast. Work like this could help build machines that react safely and quickly in other real-world situations, like training tools for athletes or robots that handle delicate objects.

Source: Wired