Apr 25 2018
Tennibot, the autonomous robot that saves players and coaches valuable practice time while avoiding the tedium of chasing tennis balls, has launched on Kickstarter.
Haitham Eletrabi, the founder and CEO of Tennibot, Inc., came up with the idea for Tennibot during his time at Auburn University where he received his Master of Business Administration and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering.
"Tennis players and coaches have to pick up hundreds of tennis balls every time they are on the court, whether they're hitting with the ball machine or practicing serves," Eletrabi said. "Tennibot was created to solve this problem - saving players and coaches time and effort picking up stray tennis balls, and allowing them to use their time on the court more efficiently, whether it is hitting more balls or hydrating.
Tennibot, a featured product in the LA Times, Time Magazine and more, has already received international recognition and prestigious awards including the Tennis Industry Association Innovation Award and the 2018 Honoree Award from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES2018).
"Tennibot is the only robotic or autonomous solution that can pick up balls while you are playing," Eletrabi said. "Tennibot perfectly integrates computer vision and artificial intelligence to save tennis players, coaches and tennis clubs from wasted time and effort."
Tennibot uses object detection and sensor fusion to detect tennis balls, while the app lets the player customize where on the court Tennibot will clear during a session. It collects up to 80 balls, works on both hard and clay courts and has a battery that lasts up to five hours on a single charge. Tennibot also automatically keeps track of the number of balls the player hits and how frequently they practice.
Tennibot can be used in many situations on the tennis court, including when:
"To put it simply, Tennibot is a robotic personal ball boy that never gets tired," Eletrabi said. "I love tennis, and I'm excited that we now have a product on the market that allows players to spend more time hitting tennis balls and less time chasing them."
Source: http://www.tennibot.com