Aceii One robot for tennis drills launching on Kickstarter

Aceii has unveiled the Aceii One tennis robot on Kickstarter. The robotic ball machine is designed to allow a tennis player to practice returning a variety of shots without the need for a partner. The project is scheduled to open on September 23 at 9 AM ET. Pricing has not yet been announced.

The Aceii One consists of a 120-ball hopper that sits on top of a ball machine. Together, the assembled unit is about the size of a golf bag or tall suitcase. Separated, the two can fit into most car trunks.

The tennis robot can move across the court on four caster wheels powered by two motors. The wheels allow it to cover half a court in 1.2 seconds with an acceleration of 3.5 m/s2, unlike conventional ball machines (like this one on Amazon). Two AI-powered stereo cameras are used to track the location of the player across the tennis court.

The robotic ball machine can serve balls at up to 80 mph every half second. It can also shoot balls back across the court similar to the returns of actual players. The Aceii One can shoot balls across the net as part of interactive drills with the AI coach or as random shot practice. All swings with highlights are captured by the cameras for review on smartphones after practice.

The Aceii One is not a full robotic rally partner like the Acemate Tennis Robot, which can rally just one ball back and forth like a real partner.

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