Dec 26 2007Robotic Foosball Table Built For A Class
A team went and built a robotic foosball table for those times when nobody wants to play with you. It was done for a college course and takes up a lot of space. "The premise is simple: servos coupled with a micro-controller operate the arms of the table, while a camera above the action monitors the game, including the location of the ball and the opponents moves, then processes that information using a custom AI." Not bad work, but they should have used belts instead of gears to cut down on the thing's footprint. Still a good start though considering it was done for a class. God knows the only thing I did for college courses was get high as shit and wander into the wrong classroom.
A video of the table in action after the jump.
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Reader Comments
1. jordan314 - December 26, 2007 3:58 PM
WANT, though they both seem to suck.
Still, that's amazing.
2. pskaught - December 26, 2007 8:06 PM
oh man, I've played drunk babies better at foosball.
I would feel like such a man kicking a robot's ass.
3. Braedley - December 29, 2007 8:40 PM
Okay, while it's impressive that this class got the table to play, it, well, how do I put this tenderly? It fucking sucks balls. I am, at best, a mediocre player, and I could school this robot. They have two major problems: the lateral movement is too slow, and, if the video is of any indication, the computer doesn't track the ball fast enough, meaning anyone that can deliver quick and accurate shots should be able to beat it.