Site Products
Ask The Experts: Larry Thoman No. 375

Ask The Experts: Larry Thoman No. 341

Butterfly Table Tennis Question and Answer

Question:

What do the different colors mean on the control panel LEDs for the Amicus Professional Robot?

Answer: 

Larry Thoman
Larry Thoman

This Ask the Experts question was answered by Larry Thoman. He is a Table Tennis Robot Guru. Larry’s response is below:

The Ball LEDs are the LEDs above the buttons marked 1–8. #1 and #2 have a S appended after the number. That S means those two buttons can be designated as serves, which to the robot simply means a brief pause is added before that ball is thrown, much like you would experience in a real game where you are waiting for your opponent to begin the serve. A normal ball is indicated by a lit orange LED. A serve is indicated by a lit green LED. Ball 1 LED and Ball 2 LED can both be either orange or green. You change it by repeatedly pressing the associated button for that ball.

 

If you have a single ball drill and that ball is programmed as Ball 1, and Ball 1 LED is green, you are telling the robot to insert a pause before every shot it delivers. Press the Ball 1 button repeatedly until that LED turns orange and then the ball feed will use the setting of the Ball/min knob.

 

Here’s an example—let’s say you have 3 balls programmed. Ball 1 LED is green and Ball 2 and Ball 3 LEDs are orange. Ball/min is set to 60 (1 second interval between ball throws). This is telling the robot:

 

Pause for a few seconds

Throw Ball 1

Wait 1 sec.

Throw Ball 2

Wait 1 sec.

Throw Ball 3

Pause for a few seconds

Throw Ball 1

Wait 1 sec.

Throw Ball 2

Wait 1 sec.

Throw Ball 3

Repeat

 

If Ball 1 was orange (instead of green), then the sequence is:

 

Throw Ball 1

Wait 1 sec.

Throw Ball 2

Wait 1 sec.

Throw Ball 3

Wait 1 sec.

Throw Ball 1

Repeat

 

If you only have Ball 1 programmed, and you have it designated a serve (green light), then the sequence is:

 

Pause for a few seconds

Throw Ball 1

Pause for a few seconds

Throw Ball 1

Repeat

Latest News

Jinbao Ma takes Player of the Week

December 19, 2025
(by: Major League Table Tennis) Player of the Week honor for Week 8 🌟 Bay Area’s Jinbao Ma (SPINDEX: 2740) has been… Read More

Ask The Expert Live #2: Getting Back Into the Game?

December 17, 2025
(by Bowmar Sports) Let’s Talk Equipment with Logan Rietz! Butterfly Americas returned with the second episode of “Ask… Read More

Coaching Yourself, Part 3 of 5: Serve Practice

December 15, 2025
(By Larry Hodges, Member of US Table Tennis Hall of Fame, www.tabletenniscoaching.com/blog) Serve practice is my favorite practice.… Read More

WAB CLUB FEATURE: My Table Tennis Club Markham

December 14, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins) If you are looking for a quality table tennis environment in the Toronto area, My… Read More

Harimoto Wins WTT Finals

December 14, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins) The top players in the world converged on Hong Kong this week with four emerging… Read More

WTT Finals: Chuqin, Shidong, Moregard, Harimoto Semifinalists – Koreans Win Doubles

December 13, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT) The top players in the world converged on Hong Kong this week with… Read More

Arantxa Cossio Aceves – All Table Forehand Loop

December 13, 2025
(by: Bowmar Sports) In this Bowmar Sports Highlights,  Arantxa Cossio Aceves is executing the Forehand Loop from the… Read More

Top 16 Battle at the WTT Finals

December 12, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins, photo ITTFWorld) The top players in the world converged on Hong Kong this week for… Read More
View All News

Get the latest from Butterfly

Stay “In The Loop” with Butterfly professional table tennis equipment, table tennis news, table tennis technology, tournament results, and We Are Butterfly players, coaches, clubs and more.