Butterfly AMICUS PRIME User manual

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AMICUS
PRIME
Table Tennis Robot
Owner’s Manual | Bedienungsanleitung | Manuel d’utilisation

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AMICUS PRIME Table Tennis Robot
• State of the art 3-wheel ball delivery technology provides all types of spin.
• Rigid sponge wheels with a special coating for longer durability.
• Lightweight and easily transportable. Weighs approximately 6 kg (13 lbs.).
• Random features include natural scattering of shots, random placement, or both!
• Randomize placement of individual balls within an exercise.
• Programmed or random delivery of balls with different spin, speed, placement, and trajectory.
• Start exercise with serve, which inserts a natural pause before each repetition.
• Limitless memory places, including 21 pre-programmed exercises from Richard Prause.
• Videos showing top players demonstrating each pre-programmed exercise, or add your own.
• IFC (Individual Frequency Control) function for more natural timing of balls in an exercise.
• Mirror switch to quickly change exercise for either right or left handed player.
• Alternate play and break periods (interval training) with the Cycle function.
• 3rd Ball Attack Training with serve detection to know when to play the first return.
• This manual also available onscreen on the tablet.
Covered by a full 2-year Manufacturer’s Warranty and 5-year guarantee of parts and service availabil-
ity. See full warranty information on page 32.
CAUTIONS
• Please read this Owner’s Manual carefully before using the machine.
• This machine may only be connected to 100–230 V current.
• The ball throw wheels rotate at high speed. Avoid touching the wheels during operation!
• Use this product only in enclosed and dry rooms.
Used properly, your Amicus Prime will always be a great training partner and friend (Amicus is Latin for
Friend).

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IMPORTANT: Please read instructions carefully prior to use!
Contents
1. Setup ........................................................................................................................................................................ 4
2. Tablet......................................................................................................................................................................... 6
3. Operation................................................................................................................................................................. 7
Nomenclature .......................................................................................................................................................................7
Adjustment Of Head Height .............................................................................................................................................7
Setting Up Your Tablet....................................................................................................................................................... 8
Aligning The Robot To The Centerline .......................................................................................................................... 8
Ball Screen ............................................................................................................................................................................ 8
Exercise Screens ................................................................................................................................................................ 11
Changing Settings During Play .....................................................................................................................................15
Creating A New Exercise & Modifying An Exercise..................................................................................................15
Saving And Deleting An Exercise ..................................................................................................................................16
Sequences............................................................................................................................................................................16
Creating And Saving Sequences...................................................................................................................................17
Playing A Sequence...........................................................................................................................................................17
Editing And Deleting Sequences.................................................................................................................................. 18
Editing And Saving Exercises Within A Sequence................................................................................................... 18
Modifying The Exercise List............................................................................................................................................ 18
Connection Manager ........................................................................................................................................................19
Calibration...........................................................................................................................................................................20
Remote Switch...................................................................................................................................................................20
Linking The Remote Switch To The Tablet...................................................................................................................21
Changing The Batteries In The Remote Switch .......................................................................................................21
Other Functions Of The Robot Screen .......................................................................................................................21
Functions Of The Information Screen ....................................................................................................................... 22
4. Take Down, Storage, & Transport ...................................................................................................................... 22
5. Maintenance & Repair.......................................................................................................................................... 23
Cautions............................................................................................................................................................................... 23
Checking & Adjusting Wheel Clearance .................................................................................................................... 24
Replacing The Wheels...................................................................................................................................................... 24
Ball Jams ............................................................................................................................................................................. 25
Other Maintenance........................................................................................................................................................... 27
6. Troubleshooting.................................................................................................................................................... 27
7. List of Replacement Parts ..................................................................................................................................30
8. Technical Data....................................................................................................................................................... 32
9. Warranty Information ......................................................................................................................................... 32
Full 2-Year Manufacturer‘s Warranty ......................................................................................................................... 32
10. List Of Factory Exercises ..................................................................................................................................33

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1. Setup
a. Robot and Net Assembly
b. Power Supply (Input: 100 – 240 V, Output: 24V DC, 2.7A)
c. Tablet
d. Tablet Cable
e. Tablet Power Supply
f. Control Panel Bracket
g. Remote Switch Fob
h. Plug Adapter (if applicable)
Other parts: Hex wrenches (2 and 4mm) for wheels, Wheel Ad-
justment Gauge (black tube with fins), spare rubber bands for Side
Nets, Velcro strips. Repair White Strips for repair of Deflector Plate.
1. Place the robot on top of your table tennis table. Fold apart
both sides of the net at the same time until the first stop (Photo
1A). Rotate towards you the curved Support Legs into the posi-
tion as seen in Photo 1B (about 15–20 cm, or 6–8 in. apart).
2. Rotate the entire robot 180° with the Support Legs facing away
from you. From behind, grasp the robot with both hands on the
bottom of the Base. Pick up the robot, angle the Support Legs
downward, slip them under the end of your table, and push the
robot onto the end of the table. Gently let go of the base and
the robot will hang by its own weight as seen in Photo 2.
Please note that Amicus robots can fit tables with tops 9 mm to
25mm thick. To adjust, unscrew the rubber tip on each Support
Leg by an amount equal to the difference between 25mm and
the thickness of your tabletop. E.g., if your tabletop is 19mm
thick, you will need to unscrew each rubber tip 6 mm (25 mm–
19mm). When correctly adjusted, your robot should be level and
plumb (vertical). Occasionally the screw underneath the rubber
tip becomes stuck. To free, remove the rubber tip and turn the
screw with a hex wrench or pair of pliers.
CAUTION: Please use the included longest Velcro strip to help
secure the robot to the end of the table. This is especially im-
portant if children play around the table. The Velcro strip helps
stabilize the robot to prevent it being knocked off the table.
3. Loosen the large Black Knob found on the rear of the Ball Tube.
Rotate the head 180° and then pull the head upwards until the
3rd coloured ring on the tube is just visible (Photo 3A), then
tighten the Black Knob to hold it in place (but not too tightly).
Lastly, fasten the Head Cable coming from the head to the serial
connector found on top of the Base (Photo 3B).
Photo 1A
Photo 1B
Photo 2
Support Legs

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Photo 3A Photo 3B
4. Standing behind the robot, grip the top of the net and fold the net down on both sides until the net
fully opens (as seen in Photo 4A). Fit the Net Corner Brackets around the corners of your table as
seen in Photo 4B.
Photo 4A Photo 4B
NOTE: We recommend attaching the two shortest Velcro strips to the corners of your table under-
neath the Net Corner Brackets to help the brackets stay down and stabilize the entire net.
5. Pull a side net along the sideline of the table and pass its thick rubber band over the top of the
table’s net standard (see Photo 5A). Then wrap the rubber band around the Clamp Screw that holds
the net onto the table. Attach the Side Net’s Velcro tab to its matching piece located on the Net
Corner Bracket as seen in Photo 5B.
Photo 5A Photo 5B
Pass band
over net
standard
Secure
Velcro
flap here
Head Cable
Net Corner
Bracket
Wrap band
around clamp
screw
Black Knob

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6. Plug your Power Supply into a power outlet and
then into the power socket on the side of the
Base (See Photo 6). Attach the Tablet to the
Control Panel Bracket and slip it onto the side
of the table closest to your free hand. Adhere
a long Velcro strip to side of table to prevent
bracket from slipping off. Lastly, connect the
Tablet Cable from the 3.5mm socket (next to
the power socket) to the USB-micro port of
your tablet.
2. Tablet
1. Power Button — Used to turn the tablet on and off. Hold down for a few seconds. Brief press to put
tablet to sleep.
2. Headphone Jack — Connect headphones or earphones here. Not used for Amicus operations currently.
3. Micro USB Port — Can be used to charge tablet from robot with provided Tablet Cable, or alterna-
tively, charge the tablet by connecting it to a user-supplied USB Charger..
4. DC Power Port — Plug the provided Tablet Power Supply into a power outlet and then into this port.
This keeps the tablet’s battery charged. If unplugged, tablet has approximately 4 hours of battery
time when new. We recommend leaving the tablet plugged into power to prevent the Power Saver
function from turning off the screen during play.
Photo 6
Plug power
cord here
Plug Tablet
Cable here
1
8 9
2
3
4
5
7
Photo 7
6

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5. Volume Button — Press left side of button to turn volume up and right side to turn volume down.
6. TF Card Slot — Insert a TF or micro SD Card here to increase storage capacity of tablet, backup
custom exercises, or transfer exercises when there is no internet connection.
7. Reset Hole — Insert paper clip here to reset the tablet.
8. Rear-Facing Camera — Currently unused by Amicus, but can be used for Android operations.
9. Speaker Outlet — For best sound, do not cover this outlet.
10. Front-Facing Camera — Currently unused by Amicus, but can be used for Android operations.
3. Operation
Nomenclature
To assist in clearly communicating the various features of your robot, it is necessary to define how we
refer to certain elements. Here are various terms used throughout this manual:
Ball Type — 4 controls affect Ball Type: Spin, Speed, Sidespin, and Trajectory.
Ball Placement — the left/right location where a ball lands, determined by the Place control.
Basic Ball — the ball thrown when the original Default game exercise is selected.
Current Ball — the ball that is currently selected as indicated by an orange circle.
Ball 1–10 — refers to the Ball Indicators (white circles) located along the right side of the table diagram.
The ball furthest left is Ball 1, and each successive ball to the right would be named Ball 2, Ball 3, etc..
Exercise — a series of between 1 and 10 balls. Also called drill, program, or rally.
Sequence — 2 or more exercises linked together, usually as a training routine, previously called Cluster.
1–4 Rings — how the head height adjustment is described. E.g., 3 rings would mean the head height is
adjusted so 3 rings (painted on the Ball Tube) are visible (see Photo 8).
Adjustment Of Head Height
On most table tennis robots, head height cannot be adjusted. In contrast, Amicus robots offer 4 different
heights to better simulate realistic play. It is quite easy to adjust the head height. From behind the net,
push the top of the net down to reach over it. Grab the curved ball tube with one hand and loosen the large
Black Knob with the other hand (see Photo 8). Pull the tube up or push it down to adjust head height. Lock
it in place by tightening the Black Knob just enough to hold the head in place.

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IMPORTANT: Before tightening the Black Knob,
be sure one of the painted rings is right at the top
of the lower tube (see Photo 8). Be careful not to
tighten the Black Knob too tightly — you can dent
the tube if tightened too much. Failure to adjust
correctly can result in ball jams, double throws,
missed throws, and other ball feed issues.
Setting Up Your Tablet
Before beginning play on your robot, it is best to connect your tablet to the internet and set your local
time. Hold down the Power button on the tablet until the screen turns on and then let go of the button.
Soon you should see the Amicus logo appear and then the Exercise List.
Touch at bottom to go to the Home screen. Next, touch , and then the Settings icon. The first set-
ting is Wi-Fi, press it. Then tap on your preferred Wi-Fi network. Type in your password (if required), and
tap Connect. You should see Connected in the Wi-Fi list underneath your selected network.
Go back to the Settings list by pressing ← at the top left of the screen. Select Date & Time. Then select
your time zone. Next, verify Automatic date & time is set to On (if you don’t have internet access, you
can set time manually). Touch at bottom right and then tap the Amicus window to return to that app.
Next, verify you have the latest version of the Amicus app by touching Info ( ) at bottom right. At top
of resulting screen, touch Check For Updates (requires internet access). If an update is available, a pop-
up widow appears. Tap Update. After the update is downloaded, a new popup appears. Tap Install. If no
update is available, the message, Is currently the latest version briefly displays at the bottom.
Lastly, connect your robot to your tablet using its Bluetooth connection. At the bottom of the Amicus
app, verify that the Robot icon shows a connection ( ). If it shows unconnected ( ), click on that icon,
and look for Amicus BTLE in the Connection Manager. Then touch Connect to establish a connection
between robot and tablet. If you have trouble making a connection, please verify that your robot is
powered on and that Location and Bluetooth tabs in Settings are both turned On. Then return to the
Exercise List by pressing Exercises ( ) at the bottom. To troubleshoot the connection, see page 19.
Aligning The Robot To The Centerline
After completing Setup on pages 4–64–6, place about 50 or more 40 or 40+ balls (use one or the other, but
do not mix them together) into the Ball Collection Tray. Grab your racket and prepare to return balls
from your robot. In the Exercise List, tap Default game, and then Play Exercise. Basic Balls are delivered
along the centerline. Observe where balls land in relation to the centerline. Press Stop Exercise. If balls
are not delivered on or very close to the centerline, loosen the Black Knob on the rear of the Ball Tube
(see Photo 8) and rotate the head in the direction necessary for balls to land closer to the centerline.
Repeat until all balls are landing very close to or on the centerline, and then stop ball delivery.
Ball Screen
Staying in the Default game exercise, press (see Photo 9). It turns orange and opens the Ball screen
where you can adjust the settings for that ball (see Photo 10):
Photo 8
Adjust
height so
lowest ring
is barely
showing
Black Knob

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Place determines the left to right placement of the ball. Hold down
the slider handle and move it back and forth. Notice that the ball’s
position on the diagram at the top moves left and right across the
table diagram in response to this setting. “0” corresponds with a
centerline placement, -8 with an extreme angle off the left side of
the table, and 8 with an extreme angle off the right side.
Ball/min % (aka, Individual Frequency Control, or IFC) delays or
quickens the timing between balls. After setting Ball/min to your
liking, use this control when the timing between any two balls is too
little or too much. For example, an exercise with a slow, short back-
spin serve followed by several fast topspin shots. Or, an exercise
with several fast topspins followed by a slow, high popup. A “0” set-
ting means that the timing between balls is as set for Ball/min. Add
more time after a ball by using negative settings (this reduces the
Ball/min setting for that one Ball) or reduce the time after a ball by
using a positive setting (which increases Ball/min for that one ball).
Sidespin changes the orientation of the spin on the ball. The “0”
setting means no sidespin. Every step from “0” represents a 15°
change in orientation. Settings to the right of “0” are degrees of
right sidespin and to the left are degrees of left sidespin.
Speed determines how hard the ball is thrown. A setting of 1 means
the speed is very slow and 25 means it’s very fast, with 13 being
the default speed in the middle. Please note that the number in the
middle of the circle (that represents this ball) changes in response
to this setting. So a 13 in the circle means a speed of 13 and a 25
means a speed of 25. The effect of this setting is shown on both the
top view and side view diagrams of the table.
Spin determines if the ball has topspin, backspin, or no spin. “0”
indicates no spin (dead ball) and the circle is coloured gray. Positive
settings mean degrees of topspin with 1 being very light topspin,
and 7 being extremely heavy topspin. As topspin is increased, the
circle shows a longer and longer green arrow in a clockwise direction. Negative settings mean degrees
of backspin with -1 meaning light backspin and -5 meaning very heavy backspin. A longer and longer red
arrow around the circle in a counterclockwise direction indicates increasing amounts of backspin.
Trajectory is the vertical slider along the left side of the screen. This sets the throw angle of the ball.
A “0” setting indicates a ball thrown straight out with only a slight upward angle. When this slider is
moved upward, the robot will throw the ball increasingly higher. And when this slider is moved down-
ward, it means a lower throw angle. The lowest settings are used to make the ball bounce first on the
robot’s end of the table (a serve). Its effect is shown on both the side view and top view diagrams.
The Sector switch lets you set a range of Placements (see Place) for a ball. For example, instead of
specifying a ball thrown to Placement 4, you specify a range of ±4, which would tell the robot to throw a
ball randomly anywhere in the right court.
To activate Sector, please see Photo 11. The Sector Switch is turned on and there are now 2 slider but-
tons in the Place control instead of one. Move these two buttons to select the range for the placement.
Photo 9
Photo 10

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In Photo 11, the range has been set to 4 ±4, which results in that
ball being thrown randomly anywhere between Placements 0 and 8.
As the buttons are moved back and forth, the Place setting (given
directly underneath the side view diagram) changes accordingly.
When Sector is turned on, the ball icon has a gray line running
through it (Photo 12). Its length provides an approximate width of
the range. You also see the gray line in the Exercise List (Photo 13):
IMPORTANT: Sector overrides Random Scatter and Random Place
functions (explained in Exercise Screens, page 11). If any ball in
an exercise uses Sector, the Random Scatter and Random Place
functions won’t work until Sector is turned off.
The Sector range must be set in increments of 2 units because it is
given as equal plus and minus values from a midpoint. For example,
you cannot select a range from 0-7. You would need to select 0-8
(4 ±4), 0-6 (3 ±3), or 1-7 (4 ±3).
The Serve switch can be used on the first 3 balls of an exercise.
When switched on, it introduces a 1.5 second delay before that ball.
This simulates the normal pause that occurs before the serve in an
actual game. If more than one Ball is designated as a Serve, then
the robot automatically picks one of those Balls and starts the Ex-
ercise with that Ball. Balls designated as Serves are coloured pink.
For example, let’s say Ball 1 is thrown to the backhand, Ball 2 is
thrown to the center, and Ball 3 is thrown to the forehand. All
3 balls are designated as Serves. For the 1st repetition of that
exercise, there is a 1.5 second delay, Ball 1 is served to start the
exercise, and then that Serve is followed by all other programmed
balls not designated as Serves. The 2nd repetition will also have a
1.5 second delay, then start with Ball 2, and followed by all other
balls not designated as Serves. The 3rd repetition will follow a
similar pattern except its serve will be Ball 3. The 4th repetition uses
Ball 1 as the serve. However, if Type RND is turned on, the serve is
selected at random to start each repetition of the exercise instead
of following the exact order as just described.
Underneath all the sliders are 2 buttons, Play and Sample. To test
your settings for a ball, tap Sample. It changes to Stop Sample
and samples of the Current Ball are repeatedly thrown at the rate
determined by the Ball/min setting. When you finish sampling the
Current Ball, touch Stop Sample. Repeat until the Current Ball is to
your liking. Use Sample to throw only the Current Ball.
When you touch Play, you are switched to the Stop Exercise
screen. Balls are thrown out in order from Ball 1 to however many
Balls are in that exercise (unless Place Random is selected.) Use
Play to throw all balls in an exercise.
Photo 12
Photo 13
Photo 11

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Best Practices: We recommend not saving any changes to the Default game exercise. This exercise is
handy for checking calibration. When exiting the Play Exercise screen, if you get a Save Exercise alert,
choose Close Without Save (see more info on Pg. 16Pg. 16).
Furthermore, if you edit the settings for a pre-programmed exercise, be certain you want to perma-
nently change its settings. To keep the pre-programmed exercise as programmed by the factory, select
Close Without Save. Alternatively, save it under a different name by tapping Save at the top right, then
Save As, and give it a new name. This keeps the original exercise unchanged.
When changing settings, large adjustments are most easily accomplished by moving the slider control
with your finger. For fine adjustments, touch the + or – symbol at either end of the slider. Doing so will
increase/decrease the settings by 1 unit for every touch.
Exercise ScreenS
After learning the controls in the Ball screen, return to the Exercise
List by tapping Exercises ( ). All saved exercises appear in this list.
By looking at the diagram for each exercise, you can quickly deter-
mine the number of balls, order of balls, and the placement, speed,
and spin of each ball (see Photo 13).
Scroll this screen by lightly touching it and moving your finger up or
down. Notice that this list includes exercises named Default game
and then 21 exercises named Exercise 79 to Exercise 99. These are
the pre-programmed exercises of your Amicus Prime. Created by
well-known Butterfly Coach Richard Prause, he recommends these
drills as a base upon which to develop more advanced skills.
As noted previously, we recommend to not overwrite these
pre-programmed exercises by using the Save command (use Save
As instead). However, modifying these exercises is permitted. If you
choose to do so, the original exercises can easily be restored by
selecting Restore factory exercises on the Info screen (page 2222).
To learn about the settings in the Exercise screens, touch Exercise
79. The Play Exercise screen appears (see Photo 14). At the top of
this screen are a top view and side view diagram of the exercise.
From these 2 diagrams, you can quickly see that this exercise
throws the 1st ball to the left corner and the 2nd ball to the right
corner. Both balls have light topspin, a medium speed of 12, and a
mid-table landing spot (about halfway between the table net and
your endline). There is also a brief written description of the exer-
cise (which can be edited by touching it).
Touch the Play Exercise button to begin playing this exercise. The
screen flashes and shows a red Stop Exercise button (see Photo
15). After a short delay, the robot begins throwing balls in the order shown in the top view diagram. The
first ball is closest to the table and each successive ball further away. As each ball is thrown, the ball
icon and trajectory lines turn orange to indicate the Current Ball. After playing this exercise for a short
while, tap Stop Exercise.
Photo 14
Photo 15

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Next, let’s explore the Random options. Touch the Random button.
A popup window appears with Scatter, Place RND, and Type RND
checkboxes. Touching the checkbox in front of each option results
in a checkmark, indicating that option is selected (see Photo 16).
Here’s an explanation of each option:
1. Scatter — Is similar to the less precise shots a human might
deliver. Without Scatter, the robot delivers shots within an area
approximately 13 cm (5 in.) in diameter. But with Scatter, balls
are delivered in an enlarged area of approximately 40 cm (16 in.).
2. Place RND — This option requires at least 2 balls; it has no effect
on 1-Ball exercises. When selected, the robot randomly selects
one of the Placements programmed for the exercise and throws
the ball there in an unpredictable order. Using Exercise 79 as an
example, the normal order for ball throws would be left-right-
left-right. With Place RND selected, placements are random, so
something like right-right-left-right-left-left-left.
3. Type RND — This option randomizes Ball Type. If, for example,
Ball 1 is medium speed light backspin and Ball 2 is fast heavy
topspin, and Type RND is on, the robot throws balls such as
medium speed light topspin, fast heavy backspin, or medium
speed heavy topspin, in addition to the programmed Ball Types.
Use caution when using this option, as it is impossible to read
the robot as you would a human. If you can’t read the ball type
being delivered,don’t continue using this option as it is teaching
you to guess what type of ball is coming, not something you
want to do in your training.
You may also select 2 or all 3 options. For instance, selecting both
Scatter and Place RND will enlarge the landing spot and randomize
the placement of each ball. Tap outside of the popup window to
make the popup go away and the selected options will be shown on
the Random button (see Photo 17).
Cycle is useful as it emulates interval training on your robot, widely
regarded as one of the best ways to maximize the effectiveness
of your robot training. Interval training alternates intense, all-out
periods of exercising (the Play period) with shorter periods of rest
(the Pause period). This is the same type of rhythm that occurs nat-
urally in a table tennis game — you serve, followed by several quick
shots in the rally, the rally ends, and then you wait a few seconds
until the next serve begins a new rally.
Tap the Cycle button. A popup window appears. At the top are some
quickset options — 20, 40, 60, and 80. Touching one of these options
sets Play at the number selected (in seconds) and Pause at one half
that time. This will be reflected in the 2 sliders below (see Photo 18).
Photo 18
Photo 17
Photo 16

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To set customized Play and/or Pause periods, move one or both
slider handles until you see the desired number of seconds. Play
period ranges from 10 to 120 seconds, and the Pause period ranges
from 5 to 60 seconds. Instead of controlling the Play period by
amount of time, you may also control it by number of balls thrown.
Simply select Balls as the Mode, then enter the number of balls.
Tapping outside the popup window reveals that the Play and Pause
periods are shown on the Cycle button. For example, if Play is set
to 40 and Pause at 20, 40/20 is shown below Cycle (see Photo 19).
The Mirror button is a handy feature. It is used to match the
sequence of shots in an exercise with the playing hand of the user.
To illustrate, Exercise 79 is programmed for a right-handed player
so Ball 1 is thrown to the left corner (a right-hander’s backhand)
and Ball 2 to the right corner (a right-hander’s forehand). This is
reflected in the top view diagram of that exercise (see Photo 19).
However, if you’re left handed, the default order throws Ball 1 to your
FH and Ball 2 to your BH. To correct the placement of shots, tap
Mirror and the placement of shots in the top view diagram will be
flipped (see Photo 20), with Ball 1 directed to the right corner (a left-
hander’s BH) and Ball 2 to the left corner (a left-hander’s FH).
An alternative use of this button is to create a new sequence of
placements without having to create a new exercise. In the above
example, if a right-handed player wanted to start Exercise 79 with a
FH instead of a BH, tapping the Mirror button would be the quickest
way to create an exercise with the desired placements.
Tap Reset Head to start a Head Reset, which checks that each
motor of the head responds to commands and sets the Deflector
Plate to a known location. Use this as your first troubleshooting
step for an irregularity in the way balls are thrown out. For in-
stance, the side view diagram indicates a ball is to be delivered low
over the net, but instead, it is thrown high off the end of the table.
Press Play Video (see Photo 21) to start a video of the exercise being
demonstrated by a live player. This button shows only when a video
file is linked to the exercise.
The video opens in landscape orientation. It begins playing and
loops over and over so you can study the player’s movements and
strokes. After watching the video, exit by touching the Return icon
( ). This returns you back to the Play Exercise screen.
To add your own video to an exercise, tap directly below the side
view diagram. A popup window appears with a Select Video button.
Tap that button and navigate to where you stored the video file on
the tablet’s file directory or select it from the Gallery.
Photo 19
Photo 21
Photo 20

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Wait is an ingenious use of the tablet’s capabilities to train in a
whole new way. The tablet’s microphone senses the sound of a
serve’s second bounce and then releases the first ball of the exer-
cise. This allows the player to serve the ball in a natural rhythm and
then practice 3rd ball attacks against shots from the robot.
The first time Wait is used, the tablet asks Allow Amicus to record
audio? Click Allow (see Photo 22). Turn off by going to Set-
tings>Apps>Amicus>Permissions, and turn off Microphone.
To use Wait, press the button. The wheels start spinning in standby
mode. Waiting for serve is displayed onscreen (see Photo 23). Then
do a serve. The robot senses the sound of your serve’s second
bounce, and begins throwing balls. When the last ball is thrown,
it enters standby mode and listens for your next serve. Exit Wait
by tapping Wait again. The robot automatically turns Wait off if no
serve is delivered after 30 seconds.
IMPORTANT: Wait relies upon sensing the sound of a ball bounce.
So do not bounce the ball on the floor, dribble it on the tabletop,
stomp your foot, or make other sounds that could falsely trigger
the robot to begin throwing balls.
If you’re training in a gym or other location with lots of background
noise, the tablet’s microphone can be made less sensitive by using
the Calibrate Sound function on the Info screen (see page 2222).
If you’re using your own device, this function may or may not work.
It definitely won’t work if you place the device in your pocket while
playing an exercise. If you can attach your device to the Control
Panel Bracket supplied with your robot, it should work. You could
also place your device on your table close to the table net where
it will be out of the way of most shots but can pickup the sound of
your serves bouncing on the table.
The Ball/min slider is used to control the frequency, or rate, of delivery. Default is 40 Balls Per Minute
(BPM), which is a good starting rate. This control ranges from 5–120 BPM. 60 is the average topspin
counter rate. 30–45 is often used for beginner/novice training. Lower settings can be used for serve
return, 3rd ball attack, and other specialized drills. This control can be changed either with ball delivery
stopped or while balls are being thrown. The Ball/min setting is saved with the other settings. If you
change it, save that change when exiting the exercise. It is considered a good practice for most exer-
cises to set Ball/min to a rate at which the next ball is thrown when your return hits the robot’s net.
This will better simulate the timing that occurs in an actual game. Of course, this advice does not apply
when practicing against shots where the opponent would contact the ball above the table (short serves,
some pushes, etc.) or against deep shots like lobs or chops.
Touch Start Exercise to play the exercise at the rate shown on the Ball/min slider. The app changes
screens and a red Stop Exercise button appears (see Photo 15). After a momentary delay, balls are
thrown in the order shown in the top view diagram (unless Place RND is turned on). When the last Ball
of an exercise is thrown, the exercise repeats automatically. To stop ball delivery, touch Stop Exercise.
Once touched, the screen changes back and the black Start Exercise button reappears.
Photo 22
Photo 23

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Changing Settings During Play
With Amicus, it’s possible to change some settings for all balls in an exercise at one time. To do so, the
robot must be delivering balls and the red Stop Exercise button must be visible (see Photo 15). Without
stopping play, tap the + or – symbols to adjust the Trajectory, Spin, or Speed for all balls in a drill.
To better understand this function, let’s say Ball 1 has a 20 Trajectory and 20 Speed and Ball 2 has a -10
Trajectory and a 10 Speed. If you tap the Trajectory + symbol twice, Ball 1’s Trajectory changes to 22 and
Ball 2’s trajectory to -8. Tapping the Speed – symbol once results in the Speed for Ball 1 changing to 19
and for Ball 2 to 9.
If all balls in an exercise are the same spin, the Spin adjustment appears and allows you to change the
amount of spin on all balls. If Spin is set to 1 for Ball 1 and 2 for Ball 2, tapping the Spins + symbol once
would change the Spin for Ball 1 to 2 and for Ball 2 to 3.
In addition, you may change the Ball/min setting either by moving the slider handle or tapping the + or –
symbols. Cycle, Random, and Mirror can also be turned on/off or adjusted during play.
Creating A New Exercise & Modifying An Exercise
Touch Exercises ( ) at the bottom of the screen to go to the Exercise List. Touch New at the top right. A
new Play Exercise screen appears with only Ball 1. Tap on the ball symbol and then change the parame-
ters of Ball 1 according to the instructions in the Ball Screen section. Sample the ball if you like.
Then tap the + symbol to the right of Ball 1. This creates Ball 2. It is a copy of Ball 1. Tap its symbol,
change its parameters to your liking, and then sample it if desired. Repeat this process, adding as many
balls as you wish. If you run out of room on the right side of the screen to show all balls, simply touch the
area to the right of the table diagram and slide your finger left to show more balls. There is a maximum of
10 balls per exercise.
When you’re done adding balls, touch Play to test the exercise to see if it plays as expected. If not, tap
each ball that needs correction, change its settings accordingly, and then Sample the ball. After all
balls have been changed, touch Play to play the entire exercise.
Repeat this process until the exercise is as desired.
If, during this editing process, you need to delete a ball, or change
the order of balls, touch and hold down on the symbol for the
appropriate ball. In a brief second, the Ball Operations popup menu
appears (see Photo 24). You can now Delete, Duplicate, Move Left,
or Move Right the Current Ball.
Delete is self-explanatory. Duplicate copies all settings of the
Current Ball and places that new ball at the end (furthest to the
right). Move Left and Move Right commands are used to change the
order of balls. In the Photo 24 example, Ball 2 ( ) is selected. If you
choose Move Left, Ball 2 becomes Ball 1, and Ball 1 becomes Ball 2,
and the order of Balls becomes - - . If Move Right is chosen,
then Ball 2 becomes Ball 3 and Ball 3 becomes Ball 2 and the order
changes to - - . Photo 24

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Saving And Deleting An Exercise
After verifying the exercise runs the way you want it to, please save
that exercise to store it in memory and add it to the Exercise List
( ). From either the Ball screen or the Play Exercise screen, tap
Save at the top right. A popup menu appears with 4 options: Save,
Save As, Save To Sequence, and Revert Changes (see Photo 25).
If Save is chosen for a new exercise, the Set Exercise Properties
popup window appears. Enter a name for the exercise and a de-
scription. Then tap Save at the bottom right of that window. If Save
is chosen for an exercise that was previously saved, the older saved
version is immediately overwritten with any changes you have
made since the last time it was saved.
Save As is the safer method to save a file because it does not over-
write the existing exercise (the original exercise is kept unchanged,
and a new exercise is created with the new modifications). However,
please be sure to provide a unique name for the modified exercise
so the name will not conflict with the name of another exercise.
Save To Sequence saves an exercise to either a new or existing
sequence. Sequences are described in the next section.
Revert Changes throws out any new modifications and keeps the
exercise as it was last saved.
If you do not use one of the above save options from the Save pop-
up menu, and then exit the Play Exercise screen or Ball screen, you
are presented with an Exercise is not saved dialog box (see Photo
26). Choose to either Save and Close (the same as Save, above) or
Close Without Save (same as Revert Changes, above).
To Delete an exercise, tap Exercises ( ). Tap Edit at top right. Find
the exercise to delete by scrolling the list. Then touch the listing
and slide your finger to the left. A red stripe will appear with a trash
can icon along with a Delete dialog box (see Photo 27). Tap Delete at
bottom right of that dialog box to permanently delete the exercise.
Or tap Cancel if you decide not to delete the exercise.
Sequences
With Amicus Prime, you can string together 2 to 10 exercises into
a sequence. For each sequence, one repetition of each exercise is
played in a loop. For example, if Exercises 1, 2, and 3 are saved into
a sequence, one repetition of Exercise 1 is played, followed by one
repetition of Exercise 2, and followed by one repetition of Exercise
3. The sequence continues looping through Exercises 1, 2, & 3 in
that order until play is stopped.
Photo 26
Photo 27
Photo 25

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There will always be 10 mini table diagrams shown for each
sequence listed, even if a sequence doesn’t include 10 exercises.
Open spots are coloured light blue while filled spots are dark blue.
Photo 28 shows a sequence with 3 filled and 7 empty spots.
Creating and Saving Sequences
There are 2 ways to create a sequence:
1. From the Exercise List, select the first exercise to be included in
the sequence and open its Play Exercise screen. Tap Save at top
right, then Save To Sequence. In the resulting dialog box, select
New Sequence,
2. If you already have one or more sequences saved, they will
show up in the Save To Sequence dialog box. Tap one of the
already saved sequences and the exercise will be added to that
sequence in the next available open spot.
Continue adding more exercises, in the order you want them to
play, until you have no more to add. Or, you can click on the next
open spot in the sequence diagram and proceed to build a new
exercise from scratch (follow directions in the Ball Screen section).
Such exercises are saved directly into the sequence by tapping
Save at top right, then Save in the resulting popup window.
Playing A Sequence
To better understand sequences, create one following the above
instructions. If not already open, tap a sequence in the Exercise
List to open the Play Sequence screen (see Photo 29), Study the
table diagrams to understand what exercises are included and their
order. Once you have a mental image of the exercises, touch the
Play Sequence button. It takes a few seconds for the sequence to
load and begin playing.
Play Sequence plays a series of exercises in a row similar to how Play Exercise plays a series of balls
in a row. Play Sequence begins with one repetition of the 1st exercise shown and continues with one
repetition of every other exercise in the order shown. When it reaches the last exercise, it loops back to
playing the 1st exercise and continues this order until the Stop Sequence button is touched.
Use the Random button to play the exercises out of their normal order. As an example, let’s say Exercis-
es 1, 2, and 3 are saved into a sequence. When played, the order could be something like 2–3–3–1–1–2–3
with Random on; whereas, with Random off, the order would always be 1–2–3–1–2–3.
Cycle can also be used with sequences in a fashion almost exactly the same as used in Play Exercise
(see page 12)2). And the Reset Head button functions the same (see page 1313).
Photo 28
Photo 29

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Editing and Deleting Sequences
Once a sequence is created, you can edit it to change the order of the exercises, delete an exercise,
and delete the entire sequence.. To change the order of exercises, open the Play Sequence screen. Then
hold down on the exercise you want to move. After a second or two, a popup menu appears. Select
Move Left or Move Right to change the order of exercises. Continue this same process for each exercise
you want to move until all exercises are in the order you wish.
To delete a particular exercise from a sequence, follow the above procedure, but select Delete from the
popup window, and then confirm you want to delete. To copy an exercise, so it appears more than once
in the sequence, select Duplicate, and a copy is inserted immediately after the selected exercise.
To delete an entire sequence, go to the Exercise List, tap Edit at top right and locate the desired
sequence. Then touch the sequence and slide your finger to the left. A red stripe appears and a delete
dialog box appears. Tap Delete to permanently remove the sequence.
Editing and Saving Exercises Within A Sequence
If an exercise appears within a sequence, but is not saved as an individual exercise, you can do so with
a few commands. Open the Play Sequence screen. Tap on the exercise you want. Then tap Save at top
right. In the resulting popup window, select Save As. Give the exercise a unique name and then tap
Save. The exercise is saved as a standalone exercise and placed at the bottom of the Exercise List.
To change settings for individual balls, tap on an exercise in the Play Sequence screen and proceed to
make changes as described in the Ball Screen section (see page 88). After making any changes to a
sequence, be sure to save your changes by using the standard Save command at top right.
Modifying The Exercise List
There are several functions within the Exercise List that need to be pointed out. The quickest way to
access the Exercise List is to tap on Exercises ( ) at the bottom right. All exercises and sequences are
saved to and stored in this list (this list is essentially the robot’s memory). Besides storing these items
for easy access, you can perform several functions from this screen.
1. To create a new exercise, tap New at top right and follow directions under Ball Screen (see page 88).
2. To change the order of the exercises and sequences, tap Edit at top right, hold down on the item you
want to move, move it up or down to the desired position, then let go. Tap Done at top right.
3. To rename the exercise, edit the item’s description, or add a video demonstrating the exercise, tap Edit
at top right, Then tap on the equal symbol (=) to the far right of the item. This opens a popup to enter
or modify an item’s name, change its description, or add a video. To add a video you must first add the
video to the device’s file directory. For ease of use, most videos can be accessed through the Gallery
app. Don’t forget to tap Save in that window to save your changes.
4. If you know the name of the exercise you want to locate, tap the magnifying glass icon at top right,
then type a word or words that appear in the exercise’s name. A list of all exercises matching that
word, or those words, appears. When finished, tap the X at top right to exit the search function.

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5. To delete an exercise or sequence, tap Edit at top right, locate the desired exercise or sequence, then
drag left on it. In the resulting dialog box, tap Delete.
6. If you set up an email, Facebook, and/or other social media account on your tablet, share items by
tapping Edit at top right. Next tap the checkbox at far right for each exercise you want to share. Then
tap Share at top right. A list of your email and social media programs appears. Select the one you
want to use and a new message window appears. Type in your message and recipient, then send. When
your friend receives the message on their own Amicus tablet, they can tap on the attached file, the
Amicus app opens, and the exercises are automatically added to their Exercise List.
7. Save your exercises to a Micro SD (TF) card by inserting a card with available space into the TF Card
port of the tablet. Tap Edit on the Exercise List, select the exercises you want to save, and then tap
Share at top right. In the resulting Sharing Options window, tap Save to file. Enter a file name and tap
OK. The screen flashes and the selected exercises are saved to the SD Card/Android/data/tt.butter-
fly.Amicus/files folder with the extension .amicusgame. You are then returned to the Exercise List Edit
screen. This function is handy if you wish to create a backup of your custom exercises or if you want to
share exercises when there is no internet connection.
Connection Manager
The Robot icon ( or ) at bottom reveals whether or not your tablet is connected to your robot. Many
times, the tablet automatically establishes a Bluetooth connection with the robot when the Amicus app
is first launched, when the power to the Base is cycled on/off, and at other times. When a connection is
established, ( ) is shown, but when it is broken, ( ) is shown.
When a broken connection is indicated, try these things:
1. Tap the Robot icon and in the resulting screen (the Connection Manager), touch Rescan at top right.
If the tablet finds an Amicus robot, it shows it in a list of all Amicus Prime robots within Bluetooth
range. Select yours and tap the associated Connect button.
2. If no robots appear after rescanning, close the Amicus app on the tablet and then reopen it. Close
the app by tapping the Windows icon ( ) at the bottom, then the X on the Amicus app window.
Reopen by tapping the Home icon ( ) at bottom center, then the Apps icon ( ), and then the
Amicus app icon in the Apps screen.
3. If restarting the app doesn’t work, unplug and re-plug the robot into power.
4. Verify that both Settings>Bluetooth and Settings>Location are On. Go to Settings by tapping the
Home icon ( ) at bottom, then the Apps icon ( ), then Settings in the resulting screen.
5. Reboot the tablet by holding down the power button until a popup dialog box appears, select Re-
boot, then OK. Rebooting the tablet takes about 2 minutes.
6. Use a straightened paper clip or similar object to press the recessed Reset button on the bottom of
the tablet. Wait a few seconds, then hold down the power button until the screen comes back on.
7. As a last resort, go to Settings>Backup & reset>Factory data reset. This restores all settings to fac-
tory settings. You will then need to reset Time, Network, and any other settings you modified. Before
using, save all custom exercises to a micro SD card as all are deleted during a factory data reset.

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8. Check that only a single Amicus app is installed by going to Settings>Apps. You should see only a
single Amicus app. If there is more than one, delete or disable the oldest version.
9. If you have the Amicus app installed on two or more devices, be sure only one app is trying to con-
nect to the robot. The other app should be closed or show the robot being disconnected.
10. Go to the Robot screen and verify that Amicus BTLE shows up in your Connection Manager. And
once you connect to Amicus BTLE, that Hardware version, Firmware version, Serial number, and
Bootloader version are given on that screen. If you do not see this information (especially if you see
Waiting for informations displayed instead), there is likely a problem with the Power Circuit Board. It
will need to be replaced. Contact a Butterfly Service Center for replacement instructions.
Once the Robot icon indicates a connection ( ), there are several other functions available from that
screen. They are discussed in detail below.
Calibration
All robots differ to some degree as motors can vary from the manufacturer, but even more so as they
age. In addition, the wheels wear differently depending upon use. Calibration harmonizes the mechanics
(the Head and Base) with the electronics (the Power Circuit Board). This is especially important if the
Power Circuit Board or Head are replaced.
Before starting a Calibration, verify that your robot is vertical (plumb) or very slightly leaning back (see
Step 2 under Setup).To check Calibration, tap the Robot icon at bottom, then the Calibrate button
(provided there is a connection with the robot — see above). And then follow the onscreen directions.
An easy way to create a Calibration target is to place a small piece of masking tape 40cm (16 in.) from
the endline and along the centerline on the player’s end of the table. This target makes it easier to judge
whether or not balls are landing at the proper location on the table.
IMPORTANT: Do not perform other operations with the tablet during calibration. It can cause the app
to crash and the robot to shut down.
Remote Switch
The wireless remote (see Photo 30) has a range of 4–5 m (13–16 feet) and the following functions:
1. If Ball/min on the Tablet is set to “0”, pushing START on the remote throws
1 ball of the Current Ball (similar to sampling a ball). For multi-ball exercis-
es, this means you can sample each ball by repeatedly pressing the Start
button to cycle through each ball of an exercise.
2. If Ball/min on the Tablet is not set to “0”, pushing START on the remote
will cause the exercise shown on the tablet to start playing at whatever
frequency the Ball/min is set (same as pressing Play Exercise on the tablet).
3. The 2 middle buttons increase (+) or decrease (–) Ball/min by 1 increment
for each press. Or hold one down for rapid acceleration of Ball/min.
4. Press the bottom red STOP button to halt ball delivery (same as Stop Exercise on the tablet).
Photo 30