Flappy Bird Robot Plays To Perfection

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Flappy Bird Robot Plays To Perfection

A pair of Chinese developers have created a robot that plays Flappy Bird much better than you ever will.

I didn't like Flappy Bird. I also wasn't very good at it, and yes, the latter may have had something to do with the former. In any case, I installed it, played with it and ditched it just a few minutes later, and have been baffled ever since (as I so often am these days) by its popularity.

Chinese guys Liu Yang and Shi Xuekun took a different approach. I don't know how good they actually are at the game, but I'm pretty sure they're not as good as the robot they built that plays it for them. It's a gawky-looking thing, comprised of a web cam and a stylus-tipped arm powered by an old hard drive, that took them four days to make.

And boy, does it work. Look at it tap! Look at it flap! That bird is sailing through those pipes like nobody's business! And I suppose it is nobody's business, because despite its obvious ability to play Flappy Bird like a champ, this robot, like all others, does not possess the sentience necessary for it to be regarding as a unique and self-aware individual.

But it is pretty cool, as kind of a "Lo Tek" machine that doesn't do anything more than mercilessly crush my high score. Which isn't saying much in and of itself, since my high score was somewhere in the neighborhood of roughly 2, but I doubt yours would fare any better.

Source: YouTube [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1_X2KdUQe8]


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Vivi22

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Aug 22, 2010
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Andy Chalk said:
I didn't like Flappy Birds. I also wasn't very good at it, and yes, the latter may have had something to do with the former.
No, it was just a really, really, bad game.
 

darthzew

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Jun 19, 2008
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There's an old saying, "If you ever think you're good at something, there's always an Asian who can do it better."

Maybe we should add, "And if the Asian can't do it better, he'll build a robot that can."
 

Lur-King

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Sep 22, 2012
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Andy Chalk said:
The World Famous said:
Flappy Bird.
It's just Flappy Bird. Singular.
That really makes me angry.
Oh no he's upset. Er- Um-
Soft Kitty Warm Kitty~
No? EEEE, he's still upset, uh-
(Oh gosh) Puns! Maybe he'll find puns funny.

Okay, "There were two ships. One had red paint, one had blue paint. They collided. At last report, the survivors were marooned.".

Oh that made him more upset. I'll just go D:
 

Corven

Forever Gonzo
Sep 10, 2008
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I came in here expecting someone to have made a robot that is able to navigate real world obstacles with a flappy bird movement scheme, I leave here disappointed.
 
Oct 10, 2011
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I thought that a robot would be able to just keep going, but in the video it only got to 154. I've seen someone in person get a 172 before, so I'm not all that impressed.

I am also disappointed that it wasn't a robot which flapped through the air, like the title made me think.
 

Bindal

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May 14, 2012
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Corven said:
I came in here expecting someone to have made a robot that is able to navigate real world obstacles with a flappy bird movement scheme, I leave here disappointed.
username sucks said:
I thought that a robot would be able to just keep going, but in the video it only got to 154. I've seen someone in person get a 172 before, so I'm not all that impressed.

I am also disappointed that it wasn't a robot which flapped through the air, like the title made me think.
You then wanted to disappointed, then? Because the title clearly says "PLAYS" as in "Plays the game". Not "flies like the bird from Flappy Bird" or something. So, expecting anything else than a robot tapping an iPad would mean you wanted to be disappointed.
 
Oct 10, 2011
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Bindal said:
username sucks said:
I thought that a robot would be able to just keep going, but in the video it only got to 154. I've seen someone in person get a 172 before, so I'm not all that impressed.

I am also disappointed that it wasn't a robot which flapped through the air, like the title made me think.
You then wanted to disappointed, then? Because the title clearly says "PLAYS" as in "Plays the game". Not "flies like the bird from Flappy Bird" or something. So, expecting anything else than a robot tapping an iPad would mean you wanted to be disappointed.
Or, you know, maybe the image came into my mind as soon as I read "Flappy Bird Robot" and once I read the rest of the title I got disappointed? In that case the word "plays" has no relevance.

Anyway, I hardly see how it matters when I still made most of my post on what the robot really is. Which would be a robot that I've seen a guy with a hangover beat at the game it was designed for.
 

Corven

Forever Gonzo
Sep 10, 2008
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Bindal said:
Corven said:
I came in here expecting someone to have made a robot that is able to navigate real world obstacles with a flappy bird movement scheme, I leave here disappointed.

You then wanted to disappointed, then? Because the title clearly says "PLAYS" as in "Plays the game". Not "flies like the bird from Flappy Bird" or something. So, expecting anything else than a robot tapping an iPad would mean you wanted to be disappointed.
No I was genuinely disappointed this wasn't about a flying robot, after clicking on the article and reading what it actually was I left a semi-joking comment on my misreading of the title of the page.

While incorrect the way I read the title was more like "someone was playing with a flappy bird robot and it worked perfectly".

Maybe I should start leaving a #Kappa at the end of all of my half joking or sarcastic posts so I don't raise your ire in the future?
 
Mar 30, 2010
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Andy Chalk said:
In any case, I installed it, played with it and ditched it just a few minutes later, and have been baffled ever since (as I so often am these days) by its popularity.
It's the whole competition thing. I downloaded it, got a very low score of eight and thought to myself "what's the point of this repetitive piece of crap?". Then one of my mates got eleven and that was it: game on. It's less of a game and more of a griefing tool - beat the score of a friend with a competitive streak and you can laugh yourself to sleep knowing that they'll spend hours or even days trying to beat your hi-score.
 

Strazdas

Robots will replace your job
May 28, 2011
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Robots emulate gameplay to perfection? yet just another game to add to the list i guess. And dont let ROB the robot find out, because he sucked at games.

Andy Chalk said:
The World Famous said:
Flappy Bird.
It's just Flappy Bird. Singular.
That really makes me angry.
Be happy. look at this cute sloth!


Grouchy Imp said:
It's the whole competition thing. I downloaded it, got a very low score of eight and thought to myself "what's the point of this repetitive piece of crap?". Then one of my mates got eleven and that was it: game on. It's less of a game and more of a griefing tool - beat the score of a friend with a competitive streak and you can laugh yourself to sleep knowing that they'll spend hours or even days trying to beat your hi-score.
interesting. i turned it on, got a score of 34 and never turned it on again. even when my friend announced he got 36. i just dont see a point in such competition i guess.