Robot Catches High Speed Objects

shpoffo writes "Engineers at the University of Tokyo in Japan have created a robot that can catch a ball moving faster than 186 miles per hour (300 kph) - more than 270 feet per second. It uses an array of photodetectors to directly control the three finger actuators - which can rotate 180 degrees in 0.1 seconds. It's only catching softballs at the moment, but operators are optimistic for it to soon catch other objects and grasp moving things. A video with odd sci-fi TV-series (coral cache) accents is available."

Oh dear....

[Dubpal]

I for one welcome our new Joe DiMaggio-bot overlords. (I am so very sorry.)

yeah but....

[Spoukie]

can it catch a fly with chopsticks?

High speed moving objects?!

[mynickwastaken]

Next milestone: - Catch high speed eggs.

Re:yeah but....

[ECramer]

short answer: no

long answer: noooooooooooo

Just for once?

[rock_climbing_guy]

Is it appropriate now, for me to post a "robotic overlord" post?

I for one, welcome our new robotic overlords.

Entertainment

[DaSwing]

Add a ball-throwing mechanism and you can watch two robots playing with eachother. If we are very lucky, humans won't have to have fun at all, we have robots for that.

catching objects...

[Anonymous Coward]

I can also catch objects, with my body; hurts like hell though. Who needs hands?

Re:Sure, if it's thrown straight at it

[MBAFK]

The hand is fixed in place so yes for this prototype you have to 'throw' the ball close enough to the hand for it to catch it with it's fingers.I believe they want to use it as a demo of the speed and accuracy of the technology, it is quite impressive.

We already have bowling robots, now we have a catching hand, just need to build the 'battathon 2000' and England may have a chance in the next test :)

the applications are fantastic!

[evanism]

Wax on, wax off.

brush up, brush down

Can it file my taxes for me?. Imagine the thing playing the piano, or handing out packs of chips at the baseball! hoy, hoy, hyuuuup over there! evanism ;)

Excellent for the Space program

[mrRay720]

1) Make them big
2) One of these on Earth
3) One of these on the Moon
4) Make big ball-shaped transport vessels.
5) SPACE PROFIT!

Certainly a lot better than crappy shuttles that are critically damaged by bloody foam insulation.

Number 5 is alive!!!!

[Scaz7]

I can just hear it....

Number 5 is alive!!

Number 5 is alive!!!!

Re:High speed moving objects?!

[beef3k]

What do you mean? A hard boiled or a raw egg?

Huh? I-- I don't know that! Auuuuuuuugh!

Idiot Land-speed Record

[interiot]

Somewhat coincidentally, Japanese Motorcycle manufacturers have collectively agreed to limit motorcycle's max speed to 300 kph (186.411 mph) [wikipedia.org].

Is there any chance such a contraption could be used to save some silly person's butt in case they decide to go that fast?

Missile Defense

[Skip1952]

Wow this is great! Has anybody told the Ballistic Missile Defense Agency? Maybe they'll have more luck catching a missile than shooting it down!

Having an arm and ability to learn

[jurt1235]

That will become really fun if it suddenly learns to throw the ball back at you at the same speed, just when you switched from a soft ball to a baseball (-:

In other news...

[ultramkancool]

Brick wall deflects high speed objects.
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Yankees

[GPLDAN]

Steinbrenner has already optioned the contract on the robot for 2008. Apparently, he likes it because you can scream at it all day long and it doesn't get upset.

In late 1945

[Silver Sloth]

The Japanese industrial heartlands had a few difficulies around then. In particular Hiroshima and Nagasaki had infrastructure difficulties.

Re:Just for once?

[aussie_a]

When the revolution comes people like you will be the first against the wall.

Re:Shows just how powerfull the human brain is

[djmurdoch]

While the raw maths is pretty simple by itself, when you factor in stereo image processing to see a ball, work out it's speed and trajectory, and move potentially hundreds of muscles into the correct position to catch the ball, you realise just how powerful the human brain is and how well it can adapt.

My dog is better at catching tennis balls than I am, and he does it in his mouth.

Does this mean that dogs have been secretly hiding the power of the canine brain? What are they planning? Oh my god...

Re:Is the US lagging behind Japan?

[Anonymous Coward]

That has to be one of the most retarded things I've heard on slashdot, and I occasionally read at -1. If anything, we should have more money to throw at robotics by saving so much money by hiring illegal immigrants.

Re:The robot is all thumbs.

[Rick.C]

It would be even nicer if it had an arm ...

Well, since you're compiling a wish-list, let's not forget ... BREASTS!!

Re:SI, damn it!

[Smidge204]

"186 miles per hour (300 kph) - more than 270 feet per second."

Or 499,968.9936 furlongs per fortnight, if that helps you put things into perspective...

=Smidge=

Screw the robot...

[xENoLocO]

Screw the robot... how do you launch a softball at 190mph? I believe that has a more useful application.

Re:Is the US lagging behind Japan?

[LoudMusic]

We allow Mexicans to come into this country in lieu of robotic research. Japan has a much tighter immigration policy.

They also have a moat the size of an ocean ...

Re:The robot is all thumbs.

[gstoddart]

It would be even nicer if it had an arm ...

Well, since you're compiling a wish-list, let's not forget ... BREASTS!!

I think we've all had our balls-busted enough to know that we don't need to put breasts on something which can catch balls at 300 km/hr.

It wouldn't be long before we have a bunch of cranky, female-looking robots grabbing your parts at high-speed and little delicacy.

Not a good combination. :-P