Three-point-shooting basketball robot shows off skills
Alvark Tokyo unveils basketball robot "CUE3" on April 10
B. LEAGUE's professional basketball team “Al-Bulk Tokyo” will be playing with the AI basketball robot “CUE3 (Q3)” on April 10 (Wednesday) at the Sun Rockers held at the home arena “Arena Tachikawa Tachikawa” I announced that I will show off in the Shibuya match.
Alvark Tokyo is based on the Toyota Motor Men's Basketball Club, and on the same day, as “Toyota Robot Day”, it will demonstrate its performance in collaboration with the humanoid “T-HR3” developed by Toyota Motor and the life support robot “HSR”. In addition to the CUE 3 half-time show, we will also conduct performances with cheerleaders and test rides, etc., and will convey the fusion of robots and sports throughout the arena and the appeal of new baskets.
On April 1st, Toyota Fuchu Sports Center made a preliminary press release. In addition to the robot demonstrations, performances of three-point shoot confrontation and physical ability comparison between Sogo Ando and Yudai Baba were presented.
With three point shooter "CUE3"
The free throw robot "CUE3" is 204 cm tall and weighs 76 kg. The number of motors is 21. The ankle and knee are speeding up with a double motor configuration. The power supply is an external power supply. Using the chest infrared sensor and camera, recognize the white frame of the basketball goal, determine the position and hit the shoot.
The model number is 93 and the position is SG (shooting guard). "It is said that it is a three-point shooter that takes over 100% of the targeted shoots and takes over the feelings of CUE2." The name "CUE" has a meaning of "trigger".
We developed the Toyota Motor Corporation Future Creation Center AI Athlete Robot Development Group. The first "CUE" was originally planned and developed by "Toyota Engineering Society (known as TES: Established in 1947, with 30,000 members)", an internal volunteer organization of Toyota Motor Corporation. At the time, there were 17 development members. Inspired by the hero's lines in the cartoon "Slam Dunk", it was planned to choose a basketball shoot as a material to optimize the trajectory of the arm in reinforcement learning. In the development at that time, it was said that 200,000 shoots were made by simulation and 300 shoots with a real machine.
The first "CUE" was scheduled to be open to the public at the 2017 TES event "Wakuwaku World". However, at the half-time show of the game of Al-Bulk Tokyo in March 2018, the performance as a player belonging to Al-Bulk became a topic and became a topic, and it is continuously developed with a schedule until 2020. It is said that development is in progress with plans to disclose the progress about once every half year. In November 2018, the base part of the first generation was removed, and the "CUE 2" with its output raised was released and decided to shoot three points.
Meanwhile, development team leader Toyota Motor Tomohiro Nomi said that it was a shock that the robot failed to shoot. Actually, in practice, it seemed to have been successful in almost 100 rounds, and it was awry to say, "If it is to be removed in production,".
The robot can hit the chute itself on a nearly accurate trajectory each time. The reason why there is a possibility of failure is that the ball's trajectory changes depending on how the ball is placed. It seems that the trajectory changes depending on whether or not the ball seam is caught at the time of release. From now on, rather than being able to cope with any way of holding, it is said that the hand part will be improved so that the way of holding the ball is almost the same.
In the case of a human player, the question "does pay careful attention to how to hold the ball as well?" As it was a thing, it was said that I did not mind until then during the game.
The "CUE3" is said to have optimized the orbit by performing 1.5 million simulations and 200 actual throws. This time, I tried to shoot a variety of patterns is that the learning efficiency has increased.
The goal for 2020 is to enter the Three Points Contest. To do so, you have to shoot the ball from five places 25 times a minute. To that end, it aims to be able to pick up the ball by itself and shoot at high speed and next to next. There are many parts of the current robots that are not enough, but it is said that information will be regularly sent out in the future. Mr. Nomi first said, "I would like to decide on April 10, 2019".
