A robot called Curly beat top-ranked athletes at curling

By Donna Lu

Two Curly robots, which are designed to play the game of curling

Won et al., Sci Robot. 5, eabb97

A curling robot has beaten humans at their own game.

Klaus-Robert Müller at the Berlin Institute of Technology in Germany and his colleagues have developed a robot powered by artificial intelligence, called Curly, that beat teams of expert human athletes in curling matches.

Curling is a sport in which players slide heavy stones down an icy path towards a circular target. Players compete in two teams of four, with most players taking turns turn to “throw” a stone or to …