It was just this past week that we told you about the T-Apex, a mobile tennis-ball-serving robot that tracks and assesses players' returns. Well, the Acemate bot goes a step further, by actually rallying back and forth with players to really hone their skills.
Currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign, the Acemate can be set to function as a traditional ball machine, simply shooting balls out to players at regular intervals. In this mode it can be loaded with up to 130 balls at once, which it's able to serve in topspin, backspin, flat, and slice styles.
The real fun starts, however, when an accompanying iOS/Android app is used to switch the AI-enabled robot to Rally mode.
It then uses its four omnidirectional wheels to scoot back and forth across its side of the court at speeds of up to 18 km/h (11 mph), utilizing its 4K/30fps dual-camera stereoscopic vision system to track both the player and the trajectory of the ball. And no, it doesn't hit the ball back using a tennis racket held in a robotic arm.
Instead, the Acemate catches the ball in its integrated collection net, instantaneously shooting another previously caught (or loaded) ball back to the player. It can hold up to 30 balls at a time in this mode, which it returns at speeds of up to 129 km/h (80 mph), heights as high as 8 meters (26.25 ft), and spin rates of up to 60 revolutions per second.
The robot doesn't catch every single return, but does reportedly have a ball-catching success rate of about 90%. One two-hour charge of its 36-V/7-Ah lithium battery should be good for around four hours of runtime.
And importantly, the bot can be set to different paces and return speeds, depending on how much of a workout the player wishes. After each session, the app provides the user with a detailed assessment of their performance, complete with robot-shot video.
Assuming the Acemate reaches production, a pledge of US$1,599 will get you one. The planned retail price is $2,329.
You can see it in action, in the video below.
Sources: Kickstarter, Acemate
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