The RoboCup soccer server [10] has been used as the basis for successful international competitions [11] and research challenges [5]. Though not directly based upon any single robotic system, the soccer server, as pictured in Figure 1, captures several real-world complexities:
The simulator, acting as a server, provides a domain and supports users who wish to build their own agents (clients).
Figure 1: The Soccer Server system
By abstracting away the low-level perception and action complexities inherent in robotics, the simulator allows researchers to focus quickly on the multi-agent coordination issues. In this regard, the fact that the simulator enforces a completely distributed approach (each player must be controlled by a separate program) is a crucial feature.
Perception in the simulator is distributed. Each agent sees a portion of the world depending on the direction it is facing. All of the information it receives is in polar coordinates relative to its own position (instead of global Cartesian coordinates). Objects that are farther away are seen with less precision. Actions available to the clients are parameterized movement commands (turn/dash/kick) as well as a communicate ``say'' command. The effects of all actions are non-deterministic.