This AI tennis robot folds into a suitcase and plays like a partner
You wheel it in like luggage and it’s ready to play tennis. Aceii One folds out and hits with you like a proper partner. It’s even designed to simulate proper match-play. The Kickstarter campaign is now underway.
The makers of Aceii One insist they weren’t interested in building just another spinning wheel in a box. They wanted to create a robot that actually plays tennis. That means it doesn’t just shoot balls.
Not your average ball launcher
The machine itself looks fairly compact. Its body folds down and fits into a wheeled suitcase form factor. Fold out the legs and it’s ready to roll. There is enough room inside for 120 balls.
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The thing uses differential drive tech, similar to what you’d find in robotics platforms, to sprint across the baseline or move up to the net. The acceleration tops out at 3.5 m/s², which is about the speed needed to match serious rallies. The company claims it can move from mid-court to sideline in 1.2 seconds.
Training, matches and more
Aceii One hits with you, reacts to your shots and changes things up based on how you play. Its vision system watches the whole court and follows your movement in real time, without needing any sensors or wearables. That’s how it knows where to fire the next ball, how fast to send it, how much spin to add and when to switch direction. It doesn’t actually return your shot, but it feels like it does.
At the same time, it records your rallies, saves highlight clips and tracks performance data. This includes shot speed, placement and consistency.
The machine supports everything from basic drills to more advanced match-style play. Training starts with rally modes that gradually increase in difficulty. From there, Match Play adds scoring and structure through three modes. Ranking places you on a scale tied to NTRP levels. Challenge rewards progress with new goals and achievements. Battle lets you compete with friends, test yourself against pro player profiles or take on shared virtual opponents from different locations.
It’s a different kind of setup. For solo tennis players, it brings structure, feedback and variety.
Coaching that goes beyond video
Another noteworthy feature is the coaching content. The Aceii app includes structured lessons co-developed with pro instructors and tennis academies. These are linked to training plans based on your NTRP score and hitting data. After each lesson, the robot delivers tailored drills to reinforce the content. You can either self-select your level or take an AI-powered test to get your starting point.
The app also allows full drill customization. You can dial in ball speed, direction, spin, interval and placement. Or use presets to simulate different play styles.
Bringing purpose to solo tennis
It’s still early days, and the Kickstarter will have to follow through before any big claims hold up. But as ideas go, this one sits at the edge of where robotics and sport start to blur. Whether it works as advertised is one thing. Still, the pitch should resonate with anyone who’s ever hit balls alone and wished it felt more like playing.
With 34 days to go, the campaign has already raised half a million dollars from nearly 500 backers. A single unit goes for $1,099 during the campaign, which is 48 percent off the planned retail price. If all goes to plan with manufacturing, deliveries are expected to begin in December 2025.
Price: $1099 and up
Raised: $498,002 of $3,857 goal
Estimated delivery: December 2025
34 days to go before campaign closes
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