Sink Your Balls Quickly With Pool-Cue Robots 79
AndreV writes "In another attempt to dehumanize our bar games, a Canadian engineer has turned the classic game of billiards on its head with his BilliardBots pet project, which consists of a series of remote-controlled mobile robots meant to replace the standard cue sticks normally used to pocket pool balls. While in his version the basic rules remain, unlike regular billiards, players in this version simultaneously rush to pocket their designated balls (they don't take turns), 'thus it's very competitive and fast,' the creator says. In order to keep tight reins on the mechatronic ball handlers' movements, he adapted a pair of Playstation controllers and says that playing 'requires dexterity, like a video game,' to control their 3.5-m/sec-maximum speeds. The 'bots are designed simply but effectively, using a 3-by-3-by-3-inch metal frame with an electronic board, two motors and rechargeable battery packs. Using a Bluetooth wireless communication protocol, its commands come from the wireless controller with single or double joystick selectable control (the other buttons are not used). Its other parameters are software programmable, such as maximum acceleration rate, maximum speed and maximum rotation speed."
Rather Not (Score:5, Funny)
I would prefer that they were not torpedoed by some cue-stick armed robot.
My wife concurs and she is bi-polar, going through a nasty bout of menopause and has access to the shotgun.
Forewarned you overlords of metal.
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Scary title (Score:5, Funny)
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I read it as "Shrink your balls"
me too (Score:4, Funny)
I just assumed it had something to do with the teabag protest last week.
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Worse: I read it as two sentences. "Sink your balls quickly with pool" leading to "Cue robots!".
That was the ultimate WTF experience.
Sign me up (Score:2)
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Are you really a roboticist?
What do you see here which looks like a robot? I see RC cars, and you?
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As a roboticist, I think this is the coolest thing since rocket skates. I can't wait for this to be commercialised.
Real roboticists don't start sentences with "As a roboticist", and if you were a roboticist, you wouldn't care if it was commericialized, you'd just build one. Those robots are not complicated as far as robots go.
-Taylor
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Maybe by roboticist he means someone that looks forward to Judgement Day when he will be able to sell out the rest of humanity for a fembot and a load of cool gizmos, rather than someone who is working in the field of robotics.
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Re:Sign me up (Score:5, Funny)
As a roboticist...
Are those like furries?
Wait... (Score:1)
Re:Wait... (Score:4, Funny)
It depends on the "quality" of the pr0n you are viewing, and the 'engagement factor'...
More research is needed...
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Amusing, but... (Score:3, Interesting)
I really don't see any value in this. Pool is a game of finesse, strategy, and ability, not brute forcing balls with robots. I don't know why you'd base it on a billiard/pool table and not something that was purpose built.
By using robots in this way you're removing what's fun about pool.
While his foosball table was cool, this is quite silly IMO.
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brute forcing balls with robots
... because it bears repeating.
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I don't know why you'd base it on a billiard/pool table and not something that was purpose built.
To save floor space and upfront costs for target customers. Flagging sales at you local poolhall/pub? Keep the pool tables for your traditional customers, but have BilliadBots tournaments on tuesdays to attract a younger clientele.
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Flagging sales at you local poolhall/pub? Keep the pool tables for your traditional customers, but have BilliadBots tournaments on tuesdays to attract a younger clientele.
I wonder, though, how hard the BilliardBots are on the soft, smooth, delicate felt surface of a pool table.
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Well, i don't know about worthless as it looks kinda fun.
But it seems to little to do with pool and/or robots for that matter.
The robot is barely an RC car, it simply bumps the ball or corrals it into the hole. There is no real aim, no cue ball used and no banking except for lucky (or unbelievably good) shots off that curved bumper.
If he wanted pool, why doesn't it have a plunger to at least shoot the ball?
I wonder how hard these are on the felt tho. If it not turnbased, then do they still have avoid the ot
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It's pointless to compare the two games. It's like saying that polo is not as much fun as soccer because the players hit the ball with a stick and they get to ride horses instead of running.
Personally, I think it's a great idea that needs marketing. Maybe add some sound and light effects and a pin-ball bumper with a laser pointer to guide it and get the shot just right.
Post a video if you find one.
You missed the memo.... (Score:2)
Pool is a game of finesse, strategy, and ability, not brute forcing balls with robots
No, it is about 'Market Share' and 'How many eyeballs we can saturate'
You, obviously have not subscribed to the latest Big Media newsletters!
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Deep Blue vs Kasparov didn't have any practical value either. Maybe that's not the point of these things.
This is prior-art for the future (Score:1)
In the future, just as we have various chess simulators now, we'll have some kind of pool-stick playing bot to match our own pool-playing skillz against, mano a mano.
Let this initial implementation serve as prior art.
pocket pool will (Score:1, Funny)
Sinking Balls? Tea Bag? (Score:1, Funny)
Is this related to the "Tea Bagging" parties that Americans seem to be having to protest taxes?
I thought the Republicans were done teabagging (Score:1, Offtopic)
YES (Score:2, Funny)
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I don't understand, there's only remote controlled robots?
why has every f***ng RC car to be called robot? (Score:5, Insightful)
Remote controlled devices are now robots? Just because robot wars uses RC controlled monsters and calls them robots?
For me a robot is something where at least some intelligence is done automatically.
I can't see any robotic thing in these toys.
So yes, the military and police bomb brobots are no robots, still just remote controlled machines.
If I remote control an excavator it does not suddenly become a robot.
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Well ASEA [abb.com] says they makes robots. We should let them know they are not in fact robots. I am with you that the term robot, in my mind as well, conveys the sense of at least partial autonomy. Maybe the right term to use for robots with AI should be automaton [wikipedia.org] but that doesn't sound as good.
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The term for these remotely operated things is "waldo".
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I would accept the term robot for the automats. At least they don't need a human all the time to do the dumb repetitive task. And if the task only requires to repeat stuff, then a "simple" memory what to do is all it needs.
It seems that today robot means "replacing a human by machine" even if the human still exists an is then just a few steps away.
"Reins" fer chrissake (Score:3, Informative)
In order to keep tight reins on the mechatronic ball handlers' movements
Seriously? (Score:5, Funny)
The only robot I want playing with my balls is portrayed by Summer Glau. But I'll settle for the actual Summer Glau.
Not a robot? (Score:2, Interesting)
My senior project for my BSEE was to make an actual robot that did this same thing. Each team's robot competed against each other to identify it's own balls and sink them before the other one could. Wish I had the video on youtube or something so you could all see the surprisingly boring competition.
Sink Your Balls Quickly With Pool-Cue Robots (Score:1)
ROFLMAO (Score:1, Redundant)
Hee hee balls is another word for testicles!
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...and you got modded _interesting_?
What, did somebody not know this fact already? Not make the connection?
Funny, sure, but _interesting_?
Man, these mods today...they don't make 'em like they used to...
Well, thanks to that awesome title... (Score:5, Funny)
... I don't think there's going to be a single serious comment in this thread.
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Canadian's love Pool Robots (Score:1)
I'd rather... (Score:2)
Sometimes... (Score:3, Insightful)
Of all the projects that could become Skynet... (Score:2)
PLEASE don't let it be this one!
Robot Arcade Game... (Score:1)
Robotic Amusements - Creators of Robo-Basho [roboticamusements.com]
is Dean Kamen in there somewhere??? (Score:2)
This looks just like the kind of thing they do at those FIRST robotics competitions. So now you know what all the high-school robotics nerds will be doing when they graduate - they'll be hustling robotic pool with their finely-honed skills :-)
I personally, want to see little robots with saws and flamethrowers. Although that might be a bit hard on the felt...
No, what I really need is (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't need something that will play the game for me. What fun is that?
No, what I really need is something that will help me rack my balls quickly.
Not quite what I had in mind by the summary (Score:2)
Now if instead something was built that did go around the perimeter of the table, and shoot in a more-or-less human fashion, that would be intriguing as it would actually be something that a human could play pool against. This is mor
You know those spam emails about... (Score:2)
This entire thread sounds like that.
(This is an observation, not a criticism.)
Cue sticks? (Score:2)
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The white ball is the "cue ball" and the stick is a "cue stick", "pool cue", "cue", etc... All are acceptable. One who builds cues is a "cuemaker." All one word. No space.
I'm a cuemaker at Carolina Cues [carolinacues.com].
Enjoy,
matta
Bullet Ball (Score:2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOOw2yWMSfk [youtube.com]