Japan’s Miwa Harimoto, Paris 2024 (team) silver medalist, was tested to the limits by a ninth-gen table tennis robot, Forpheus, on the last day of the Semicon Japan 2024 exhibition held at Tokyo Big Sight on December 13.
Developed by Omron Corp., the robot can sense, control, and think, which helped it take a few points off the World Cup bronze medalist.
The Japanese electronics company gradually developed the robot’s functions in table tennis to develop the technology.
Forpheus uses three cameras and sensors to follow the position of the ball and the movement of the paddler. The robot moves its racket when the computer brain calculates and predicts the course of the ball to make a return.
“I am somewhat nervous because it seemed to be very strong,” Harimoto said.
In response, Forpheus said, “It appears that you are an experienced table tennis player,” drawing laughter from the audience.
“I was truly surprised,” she said. “It made no errors and played in a stable manner, so I thought the technology was incredible. I was made to work somewhat hard because I began to feel that I had to return all the shots.”
The Kyoto-based company is known for its health-related products, such as thermometers and weight scales. However, it makes a major profit from industrial machinery intended to automate factory production lines.