Beer pong, the game beloved at many a drunken college frat party, is now being taken over by a robot that is unbeatable in the red solo cup past time.
The Versaball system looks like a green bouncy ball and has been previously demonstrated as being able to deftly open jar lids and change light bulbs. The latest demonstration of the robot being able to play beer pong shows how a similar type of system can help with human prosthetics advancement.
The Versaball will be unveiled at the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
According to reports, CES attendees will have a chance to play beer pong against the robot. We can only assume that being drunk while playing will not be a requirement.
As the video released by Empire Robotics, the company behind the Versaball, shows, the computer seems quite unbeatable at the game. The spherical part of the robot is actually a gripper that can pick up any object, even sharp ones, and launch objects with perfect accuracy to a target, like a ping pong ball into a solo cup.
The main difference between how a Versaball plays beer pong from a traditional game, however, is in the way the robot is fed a steady stream of ping pong balls from a human assistant, instead of launching a ball from a cup.
According to a statement from Empire Robotics, the Versaball's gripping solution can handle a variety of object and can learn to do new tasks in a matter of minutes.
"The soft ball gripper easily conforms around a wide range of target object shapes and sizes. Using a process known as 'granular jamming,' air is quickly sucked out of the ball, which vacuum-packs the particles and hardens the gripper around the object to hold and lift it," the company said.
Check out the Versaball's amazing beer pong skills in the video below and maybe try your hand against it at this year's CES in Vegas.
