Quadruped robot plays badminton with you using AI

At ETH Zurich's Robotic Systems Lab, engineers have created ANYmal-D, a four-legged robot that can play badminton with people. 

ANYmal-D's design and abilities are opening up new possibilities for human-robot collaboration in sports and beyond.

ANYmal-D combines a sturdy quadrupedal base with the DynaArm, and its racket is set at a 45-degree angle for effective striking. The robot's state estimation runs at 400 Hz, the control policy updates at 100 Hz, and the perception system operates at 60 Hz. All of this runs on a Jetson AGX Orin module, making the robot responsive and ready for action.

Getting the robot's legs and arm to work together smoothly is a major challenge. Most robots handle these tasks separately, but this limits agility. By combining locomotion and arm control into a single system, ANYmal-D can adjust its posture and gait based on the shuttlecock's path, moving more like a human player.

Robots don't have human eyes, so their cameras can struggle with frame rates and field of view. ANYmal-D's perception-aware controller keeps its camera moving smoothly, always tracking the shuttlecock. The perception noise model helps bridge the gap between simulation and real matches, making the robot more reliable during games.

Bringing ANYmal-D from the lab to the badminton court meant dealing with practical issues like power limits and communication delays. Despite these challenges, the robot managed to keep up with human players, responding to different shot speeds and landing positions, and maintaining rallies that showcased its adaptability and skill.

In collaborative games with amateur players, ANYmal-D tracked, intercepted, and returned shuttlecocks with impressive consistency. On average, it took about 0.357 seconds to process the shuttlecock's trajectory after a human hit, leaving just over half a second to get into position and make the shot. While it didn't return every shot, the robot's ability to maintain rallies and adjust to the pace of the game highlights how far robotics has come in dynamic sports scenarios.

ANYmal-D really shows how far robotics has come, especially when it comes to working alongside people in fast-paced activities like badminton. It's interesting to see a robot not just keeping up on the court, but actually rallying with human players and adapting to the game as it unfolds. As these technologies keep improving, it's easy to picture more robots joining us in all sorts of sports and activities, making play and teamwork even more fun for everyone.

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