All posts tagged: robots

Ace the Ping-Pong Robot Can Whup Your Ass

Ace the Ping-Pong Robot Can Whup Your Ass

Published by skeptic

Ace is a robot that aims high: It wants to become the world champion of table tennis. It was developed by Sony AI researchers who, in a new study published in Nature, have shown how this robot, equipped with artificial intelligence, has faced some high-level athletes, holding its own in matches played according to the official rules of table tennis. This feat represents a milestone for the world of robotics, a field that has long regarded this sport, among the most technical in the world, as one of the most difficult tests of technological advances. Robot Player We have already seen artificial intelligence systems win virtual competitions in games such as chess, Go, and even StarCraft II, but physical games are much more difficult to master. A robot needs to sense unpredictable changes in the external environment, interpret their meaning, decide how to react, and then perform the necessary action, all in a very short time. That is precisely what Ace, a very complex robot composed of three main parts, has managed to do. It …

Beatbot Pool-Cleaning Robots Are on Sale for a Limited Time

Beatbot Pool-Cleaning Robots Are on Sale for a Limited Time

Published by skeptic

It’s about that time of year. National Pool Opening Day is tomorrow, April 25, and summer is almost here, which means pool owners everywhere are getting ready to unveil the horrors of whatever happened during the off-season. Most of the Beatbot lineup is on sale at Amazon and Beatbot’s own storefront, with prices starting at $499. Beatbot makes many of the best pool-cleaning robots we’ve tested, and we’ve highlighted our top picks below. Note that the discounts are scheduled to end on April 26, though items may sell out sooner. Happy pool party season! (Drop me an invite!) Beatbot AquaSense 2 Ultra for $2,649 ($500 Off) Our favorite robotic pool cleaner overall, the AquaSense 2 Ultra has what WIRED contributor Chris Null called “near-perfect cleaning capabilities.” It has six hours of battery life; AI-powered debris detection; and can handle cleaning the floors, walls, and waterline. You’ll get a charging stand as well. Be aware that this cleaner weighs nearly 30 pounds, so ensure you’ve been eating your protein so you can lug it out of …

‘Self-aware’ robots can learn complex tasks by watching humans. Is that a good thing? : NPR

‘Self-aware’ robots can learn complex tasks by watching humans. Is that a good thing? : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Scientists have used machine learning to help robots learn how to do new tasks even in changing conditions. Malte Mueller/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Malte Mueller/Getty Images Imagine a robot that could do your laundry, make your bed, cook your dinner, or stock the dairy section at your local grocery store. Humans have long been able to teach robots how to do individual tasks, but instructing them on these more sophisticated jobs has been an elusive goal, despite billions of dollars invested into robotics. Now, a team of scientists in Switzerland has made progress in the quest to invent helpful robots that can act on complex instruction from humans. The development raises questions about whether this kind of technology could someday learn not only to help humans, but to also become capable of harming them. Inventing the personal barista  For years, robotics scientist Sthithpragya Gupta has been dreaming about the things his robot might do. “I personally want the robot to make me a coffee,” says Gupta. He and his colleagues at École Polytechnique …

The Best Robotic Pool Cleaners of 2026: Beatbot, iGarden, Dreame

The Best Robotic Pool Cleaners of 2026: Beatbot, iGarden, Dreame

Published by skeptic

This robot has everything: Near-perfect cleaning capabilities (including floors, walls, and waterline), a powerful battery with 6 hours of charge under the water, AI-powered debris detection, a solid mobile app, and the ability to skim the surface of the pool if you so desire. When finished cleaning, the AquaSense 2 Ultra floats, so collecting it is just a matter of grabbing it from the comfort of the deck. After a quick cleanup, just drop the robot on the included charging stand to juice it back up, no cables required. What’s not to like? Only two things, really. Monstrous cleaning ability requires a monstrous chassis, and to say the 29-pound Beatbot AquaSense 2 Ultra is unwieldy would be an understatement. Hauling this robot out of the water can be a chore, so work on your forearm curls if you plan to purchase one. There’s also the matter of price point: At nearly $3,000 it’s pretty much the most expensive battery-powered pool robot on the market, though plenty of competitors are at least in the ballpark. If …

Table tennis-playing robot on track to becoming world champion

Table tennis-playing robot on track to becoming world champion

Published by skeptic

Ace in action during a match in December 2025 Sony AI Ace, an autonomous robot powered by AI, cutting-edge sensors and an extremely dexterous arm with eight joints, has played competition-rule table tennis and beaten elite human competitors. The robot is the first machine to excel at the sport. It was the cerebral game of chess that was first disrupted by computers, but Ace’s success suggests physical sports may be about to have their “Deep Blue” moment – the day, in 1997, that a machine of that name beat world chess champion Garry Kasparov. “Games have long served as benchmarks for AI, including chess for Deep Blue, but also other games in more recent breakthroughs, like [the Go-playing AI] AlphaGo,” says Peter Dürr at Sony AI, Zurich Switzerland, who led the team that built Ace. But he says those earlier AI milestones were played out online. Ace represents an important advance because it has taken on real-world, professional table tennis champions and held its own. “Ace offers something that has simply never been captured before: …

Will Ferrell Predicted Actors Being Replaced by Robots

Will Ferrell Predicted Actors Being Replaced by Robots

Published by Daniella Wilson

It seems Will Ferrell can add predicting the future to his list of talents. Molly Shannon made a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where she opened up about her decades-long friendship with the beloved actor. She recalled working at a “cappuccino, scone place” in Los Angeles in the mid-1990s, when she was introduced to Ferrell through the Groundlings comedy troupe. “We clicked right away,” she said, noting that they met for the first time at the restaurant where she worked, and that she served him a scone and a latte. “We’ve been friends ever since. 30 years.” They were later hired on Saturday Night Live in 1995, which not only launched them both into stardom but also became a defining era for the NBC sketch comedy series. While reflecting on her early SNL days with host Jimmy Kimmel, the Divorce actress remembered one conversation she had with Ferrell that was surprisingly predictive of modern-day Hollywood. “One night when we were at SNL, we had just started, and I was so excited like, ‘Oh my …

A Humanoid Robot Set a Half-Marathon Record in China

A Humanoid Robot Set a Half-Marathon Record in China

Published by skeptic

Over the weekend in China, a humanoid robot shattered world half-marathon record—the human record—by seven minutes. The star performer was a robot developed by the Chinese company Honor (the smartphone maker), which finished the 13.1-mile race in 50 minutes, 26 seconds. The human record, set by Ugandan Olympic medalist Jacob Kiplimo, is 57 minutes, 20 seconds. The result marks an impressive milestone especially considering that, just a year earlier, the fastest robot at this half-marathon event took two and a half hours to complete the same distance. But Honor’s robot was not the only participant. The event consisted of more than 100 humanoid robots from 76 institutions across China. The robots lined up alongside 12,000 human runners in Beijing’s E-Town, albeit on separate courses to avoid accidents. The contrast in performance between humans and robots was more than evident. Run, Robot, Run A humanoid robot is designed to mimic the structure and movement of the human body, with legs, arms, and sensors that allow it to interact with its environment. In this case, the winning …

Robots beat human records at Beijing half-marathon

Robots beat human records at Beijing half-marathon

Published by skeptic

The winning runner at a Beijing half-marathon for humanoid robots finished the race today in 50 minutes and 26 seconds — significantly faster than the human world record of 57 minutes recently set by Jacob Kiplimo. Comparing human and robot running times may seem unfair; one social media user observed, “my car can outrun a cheetah too.” Still, the winning time is a massive improvement over last year’s race, when the fastest robot finished in two hours and 40 minutes. (Back then, I scoffed that this “would not be an impressive time for a human.”) The Associated Press reports that this year’s winner was built by Chinese smartphone maker Honor. It seems the winning robot wasn’t actually the fastest, as a different Honor robot finished in 48 minutes and 19 seconds. But that one was remote controlled — the 50:26 robot was autonomous and won due to weighted scoring. About 40% of participating robots competed autonomously, while the remaining 60% were remote controlled, according to Beijing’s E-Town tech hub. Not all of them did as …

U.S. Navy Deploys Sea Robots To Sweep Hormuz Chokepoint For Mines

U.S. Navy Deploys Sea Robots To Sweep Hormuz Chokepoint For Mines

Published by Jenni Sidey

The US military is deploying unmanned and autonomous surface platforms that can tow an advanced mine-hunting sonar system to detect sea mines that were deployed by Iranian naval forces. This development comes even as Iran closed the Hormuz chokepoint on Saturday morning. By Sunday morning, Iran’s chief negotiator said some progress had been made in negotiations with the US, but there is still a long way to go before a deal is reached. Despite the volatility in the Hormuz chokepoint’s operational status, somewhat like Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold,” the US military deployed numerous sea drones towing the floating sonar minesweeping system.  WSJ explained:  The Common Uncrewed Surface Vessel, a drone made by RTX that tows a new floating sonar system called the AQS-20, scans the bottom of the sea for mines, patrolling columns that are 100 feet wide at a time. Battery-powered submarine drones, called the MK18 Mod 2 Kingfish and the Knifefish, made by General Dynamics can be dropped in the water from a small boat and then scan for mines in a pattern. MK18 Mod …