The Hexa-Bouncer has one purpose—and one purpose only. Image: T-Kuhn via YouTube

In a world where tech leaders are racing to build autonomous machines that can do almost anything, one hobbyist is going the complete opposite route: an over-engineered robot that does exactly one thing and one thing only.

T-Kuhn’s Hexa-Bouncer only bounces a ping-pong ball, but looks like it’s capable of far more. The six-armed, metal machine was first designed in a simulated environment and then brought to life with a CNC milling machine. Custom-built joints let it rise, fall, and tilt, and even bob up and down while tracing a circle. A pair of cameras, set 120 degrees apart, track the ball’s position and send that data to a computer over USB. The computer then builds a 3D picture of the scene, then calculates when the paddle should strike the ball and at what angle. All of this happens in a fraction of a second.

The Hexa-Bouncer

Hexa-Bouncer keeps balls in the air remarkably well.…