The award
Pongbot's Aura, a coaching robot for tennis, pickleball and padel, has been named an honoree in the sports and fitness category of the CES Innovation Awards 2027. The programme drew close to 4,000 submissions, a record, the company said. The awards are owned and produced by the Consumer Technology Association and cover 37 product categories, with the highest score in each receiving a Best of Innovation distinction. Haibo Zhang, Pongbot's chief executive, said the recognition was for putting adaptive ball-delivery hardware together with AI visual analysis and coaching in one machine that handles more than one sport.
What the machine does
Pongbot describes Aura as an ultra-light multi-sport robot running on a dedicated AI chip. It gives voice-guided cues, sets up customisable drills that mimic match play, and produces performance reports for each player covering technique, consistency, movement and progress. The company said it combines robotics, computer vision and machine learning, and that it tracks serves, spin and rallies so a session yields measurable feedback.
One launcher, three balls
The machine's internal design takes three different ball types. Pongbot reworked the hardware architecture so a single mechanical launch-wheel system can change its spacing and acceleration settings for each type. The company puts the resulting unit at 8.9 kg, light enough for one person to carry, load into a car and take to a court.
Where to see it
Pongbot is exhibiting at CES at booth 56042 in the Venetian Expo and at ShowStoppers. Selected winning products, including Aura, will be on show at the CES Innovation Awards Showcase at the Venetian, booth 50243, during CES 2027, which runs from January 6 to 9 in Las Vegas. Honoree descriptions and photographs are published at CES.tech/innovation, with more to be revealed on January 4.
