OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Anyone have any experience with the Newstar 2080 robot? There's an old thread in the mytt board with some enthusiastic posts, but no activity for a couple years.
http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=47943&PN=1
Apparently a newer model was released that can be stored in a more collapsible format. It seems there is a “B” model (~$1900) that requires the robot to cool down after a number of balls (~200) while a “C” model apparently has larger motors that don’t require the cooldown (~$2300). The robot has 2 throwing wheels and the head can automatically rotate to get side spin. The catch net is designed to allow placement of the robot far away from the table while still recycling the balls. The downside is that it looks like a lengthy setup time so unless you have a dedicated space for the robot, one of the more portable models might be better.

There are a couple videos on youtube:




And a long video at a Chinese web site (gives a sense of how long it takes to move the robot when changing positions). http://www.56.com/u68/v_NTYzNTgyNDk.html [3 min: Falkenberg-like drill with robot in corner, 7 min: robot height low, 11 min: some drill with robot back in center, 19 min: robot away from the table]
Trying to embed below (same as link above):



There are more pictures of the robot at Far East Sports, but it’s out of stock there. http://www.fareastsports.com/products/robots/newstar/1339 From that website it seems like there are 5 positions that have preset programs (center, left, right, [all 20 cm from the table] center – 1m behind table, and center – 2m behind table). 4 of the positions have programs with two different head heights.

It appears to be controlled & programmed by a wireless remote. There's a 3-digit LED above the robot that appears to aid in programming. Doesn’t seem to be anyone selling this except for a vendor on ebay.

Image below shows one robot 2m away from the table with another one at the table:

I really like the idea of a robot sitting that far away from a table. I'd imagine it would make the flight of the ball etc. feel much more realistic.

Unfortunately, adding 2 metres to the required space for a table is probably a bit of a pipe dream for most of us!

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That controller seems to be the downfall of this robot. For the record, I have not played with it but did a lot of research prior to buying my second robot, and this one was highly considered.

Those who have played with it comment positively about it's mechanics and ball throwing capabilities. But they hate the controller, which is a tiny, credit-card size remote with a led light. To program drills, you have to scroll through many menus, pressing arrow buttons, and watch the blinking led light.

I think the powerful motors and stretching net are execellent features though. My research left me with the conclusion that there is no single robot available with "all" of the best features. In fact, sometimes price is not even the issue, with a cheaper robot having abilities that the most expensive do not.

I wondered why no company has put everything players want in one machine, and I think there are two explanations for this (cost is not one of them):

1. In some cases, patent issues.

2. A general disconnect between the manufacturers and customers (TT players), during the developement process.