Unbeatable cyclops robot plays Pong

With methodical, mechanical precision, this GLaDOS-like robot beams a laser out of its cycloptic oculus, and is absolutely unbeatable at Pong.

[via Gizmowatch]

1. [RedShirt77]

   I am sorry, at the super slow easy speed shown in the video, isn’t every 11 year old “unbeatable”?

   I am sure it wins matches, but only because every human human develops a deep subconscious urge to lose when faced with eternal boredom.

2. [Mister N]

   Unbeatable until:

   1. The keypad stops working which might inspire a binary curse from this robot.

   2. Power outage.

   other than that..yes..unbeatable

3. [RedShirt77]

   Unbeatable until:

   3. the screen is smudged

   4. an outlook email notification pops up and makes GLaDOS go crazy and start experimenting on people.

4. [theRadness]

   I’d be more impressed if it were an unbeatable robot that plays beer-pong.

5. [Brainspore]

   Did they build this thing before or after Wall*E?

6. [bcsizemo]

   I’m wondering why you need the robot?

   Couldn’t you just have a program that interprets the video frame buffer to determine the position, velocity, and trajectory of the ball and move the paddle accordingly? Whenever I see a robot playing something on a computer I think, “You know in 50-100 years they won’t use a keyboard, they’ll just low jack in.”

   Now robots playing ping pong, now that’s the stuff.

7. [overunger]

   Jeezus, that’s one crap-ass version of Pong! The 70s wire framey version was better than that fer cripes sakes. xp I’m sorry, but i fully agree with everybody, this video laughably sux.
   I’m sure it’s an important project for the guys involved and everything but man, the visual is like watching a Roomba backing into a wall over and over again on old, faded brown linoleum floor – withOUT the kitty on top!:)

8. [monkeymanmachine]

   What are those servos that it uses for hands?

9. [monstrinho_do_biscoito]

   impressive object tracking and anticipation robot. (i’m assuming that’s the point of the robot, the pong playing is just a test)

   but yes, i wanted to see it play a little faster.

10. [Brainspore]

    @ bcsizemo #6:

    I’m wondering why you need the robot?

    You don’t, obviously. You could just have a computer playing against itself, without wasting electricity on a monitor for us humans to see what it was doing.

    For that matter you don’t need “Pong,” either.

11. [Halloween Jack]

    The only way to win is not to play. Sit and spin, PongBot!

12. [the Other michael]

    dang, I love those wire-frame armatures and the jittery OCD keypresses….