Omron table tennis robot officially named world's 'first robot table tennis tutor'

Omron Electronics has announced that its table tennis robot FORPHEUS has been officially named the world’s ‘first robot table tennis tutor’ by Guinness World Records. FORPHEUS is an acronym for Future Omron Robotics technology for Exploring Possibility of Harmonized aUtomation with Sinic theoretics. It was developed by Omron in 2013 to demonstrate how state-of-the-art advanced robotic technology can be harmonised with human capabilities.

As described in the Guinness Book of Records 2017 edition, “In October, 2015, the Japanese company Omron Corporation introduced a table tennis robot with a sensor that measures the position of its opponent and the movement of the ball 80 times per second, can predict the trajectory of the ball and hit the ball back, and project the landing point of the ball.”

Omron has three distinct stages in the implementation of robots. The first stage is replacement, where robots undertake tasks that are dangerous or highly undesirable for humans. The second stage is collaboration, where humans and robots work side by side and make the most of each other’s strengths. This includes technology for a collision-free mobile society. Finally, the third stage is harmony between robots and humans as their workloads are integrated; this is where FORPHEUS was created.

Omron aims to continuously develop technologies that assist society with day-to-day activities, extending human capabilities and possibilities through harmonic robotic machines. FORPHEUS technology will continue to evolve as Omron’s example of how humans can work in collaboration with robots.