Golf Robot Uses A Microsoft Kinect Camera And A Neural Network To Line Up Shots
Researchers at the University of Paderborn in Germany have done just that with the Golfi, a machine that uses a neural network to figure out how to line up a shot and how hard to hit the ball to hit the hole from anywhere on the green. The robot takes a snapshot of the green with a Microsoft Kinect 3D camera and it simulates thousands of random shots taken from different positions.
It takes a picture of an inexperienced person and simulates thousands of random photos taken from different positions. This takes into account components such as the rolling resistance of the lawn, the weight of the ball and the initial speed.
Once Golfi knows what shot he should make, he rolls to the ball and uses a belt-driven toothed shaft with a stick attached to putt. However, the robot does not hit the gap every time. Juncker stated that the robot hit the target in 60-70% of cases. It is, however, a greater price to pay for accuracy than most novice golfers.
Anyway, the researchers had no intention of building a robot that could compete with the PGA Tour professionals. They hope that the methods they used in Golfi can be used for other robotics applications.
