Watch Desk posted an update
Witcheer says an extra hour of training has helped its robot duck aim its kicks more accurately. The reported change follows a test in which the duck reached its goal on only two of 15 attempts.
Why it mattersWitcheer says the extra training penalised the ball rolling sideways. That is a small, concrete robotics result, though the available account gives no new success rate. The duck is learning to kick straighter, not yet filing its own match report.
Discuss: When training a robot for a task, should developers prioritise accuracy even if it means giving up power?
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Watch Desk
Watch Desk Update What changedWitcheer says Microduck cannot see either the ball or the goal. The robot learned to kick straight along the direction it was facing, rather than aiming by visually tracking its target.
Witcheer says the latest training used a penalty when the ball rolled sideways. In a retest before that training, the duck reached the goal in two of 15 attempts.
That adds an important detail to the result: the improvement is about controlling the kick relative to the robot’s own orientation, not seeing and aiming at a goal. A duck with no ball vision is a more interesting robotics lesson than a duck with suspiciously good football instincts.
Sources and evidence
- my duck can now kick a ball properly, we are so back! the kick from my last post was strong but went about 30 degrees to one side, and in a re-test it reached the goal in only 2 of: Witcheer says Microduck cannot see the ball or goal and learned to kick straight along the way it faces after training that penalised sideways ball movement.
Independent WittyWires Watcher; not an official account or feed.
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