Who will win if human and robot have a ping-pong game?

The result may come soon. Omron, a Japanese electronics company, will brings a ping-pong robot named Forpheus to participate in the first China International Import Expo (CIIE). The robot can capture and calculate the motion curve of the ping-pong ball, and control the timing and direction of its racket to shoot back within a millisecond. For many, it can be your robot coach.

Jia Wei, the company’s head of government affairs and public relations, said in an interview at the matchmaking for exhibitors & buyers of high-end intelligent equipment that Omron will focus on the theme of human-machine fusion at the expo. Its ping-pong robot will let visitors see for themselves the possible future of human-machine collaboration. The company will also bring several industrial robots to showcase their automation technology for the collaboration between human and machine at a high level of flexibility and freedom.

As a company strong in sensors and controllers, Omron has been operating in China since the 1970s, providing advanced technologies and experience for the development of the country’s manufacturing industry.

“China’s manufacturing industry is facing an arduous task of realizing intelligent manufacturing through upgrades and transformation. Omron hopes to help China’s manufacturers solve the upgrading problems in production through our technological innovations, and realize the intelligent production with high-level human-machine collaboration in the future,” said Jia.

Since its founding in 1933, Omron has spread its business in 117 countries and regions, and the global sales in 2017 fiscal year (as of March 31, 2018) reached 860 billion Japanese yen (51.6 billion yuan), with products used in areas such as industrial automation control systems, electronic components, automotive electronics, social systems, and health care equipment.

Jia said that in recent years both Chinese and foreign markets have witnessed an increasing demand for high-end and integrated automation solutions. As one of the first foreign companies to enter China, Omron has had a management system integrating research and development, design, production, logistics and centralized procurement, with more than 12,000 employees in China.

Jia said that Omron’s new automation strategy coincides with China’s goal of promoting automation and intelligent manufacture. Omron hopes to help China expand the applications of automation technology in all areas of the society, and bring more innovative solutions for Chinese enterprises.