TWO minutes after Zhang Lu scanned the QR code on a green, smart shared locker and completed authentication, a tennis robot rolled out like a ready-made hitting partner from the locker onto the rooftop courts of Bao’an Super Tennis Center on a sunny winter afternoon recently.

Marketed as Acemate, the tennis robot was developed by Bao’an-based OneRobotics (Shenzhen) Co. The shared cabinet can store up to four such robots, each available for rent as a tennis partner. It is the world’s first AI-powered tennis-robot shared locker that has been officially launched, ushering in a new era of sports equipment sharing.

As he poured a bag of tennis balls into the robot’s hopper, Zhang watched it come to life with a steady “thwack, thwack, thwack.”

“Players simply bring a racket and go after completing the rental procedures at the shared locker,” said Feng Yi, product manager of Acemate at OneRobotics.

Acemate is equipped with a professional vision system that tracks incoming ball trajectories in real time and dynamically adjusts the exit speed, spin, and placement to match the player’s level — creating a lifelike training partner rather than a static ball machine, according to Feng.

After a rally, users can open the companion app to view an instant report of performance metrics such as average and maximum ball speed, net clearance and in-play hit rate.

“Unlike traditional ball machines, Acemate can move to collect and return balls, producing accurate returns while saving players the hassle of picking up balls,” said Feng.

Feng said that Bao’an’s long-term investment in high-quality sports infrastructure, like the Super Tennis Center, made the district an ideal choice for the product’s first public deployment.

Rental costs 88 yuan (US$12.68) per hour — “cheaper than hiring an amateur hitting partner, and you don’t need to convince anyone to come out and play,” Zhang said.

Children and coaches welcomed Acemate’s debut.

“It’s like playing a match with a robot!” said Yu Minwei, a Grade 2 student at Gongle Primary School. A tennis coach surnamed Tan at the center said: “AI is the future. This helps students train more effectively.”

OneRobotics says more than 2,000 Acemate units have been deployed worldwide, with Bao’an serving as the company’s core research and application hub.

(Wei Jie)