A collection apparatus including an autonomous power supply means and an image acquisition means for acquiring image sequences of at least one area of surveillance is disclosed. The collection apparatus may further include control means connected to the image acquisition means for receiving and processing the acquired sequences of images, to detect the presence and position of said game elements, and to send a control command to move the collection apparatus to collect a detected spherical game element. The collection apparatus also includes interaction means for interacting with a player to deliver a previously collected spherical game element to the player and a delivery device controlled by the control means to perform the delivery. An automatic collection system is also disclosed that uses two collection apparatuses, operating in a complementary and/or synchronized way to collect and deliver a spherical element to a player, on request by the player.