RoboCup Robot World Championship Attracts Hundreds of Researchers
RoboCup 2001, A Major International Event Featuring Autonomous
Soccer-Playing and Rescue Robots, Makes U.S. Debut in Seattle, Aug. 2-10
Contacts:
RoboCup, the five-year-old international sporting and scientific event
featuring autonomous soccer-playing and rescue robots of all shapes
and sizes will take place in the U.S. for the first time, Aug. 2-10,
in Seattle at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center.
Frequently Asked Questions about RoboCup 2001
RoboCup is an international research and education initiative, designed to increase awareness of, and stimulate research in artificial intelligence
and robotics.
The RoboCup World Championships consists of 7 different events. (i)
F180: Teams of autonomous small robots (15cm in diameter) play soccer
on a field the size of a ping pong table. (ii) F2000: Teams of larger
robots (roughly 50cm in diameter) play soccer on a 9m x 6m field.
(iii) Sony Legged Robot League: a soccer game played by autonomous
four-legged robots. (iv) Simulator league: a soccer game played
artificial intelligence programs in a realistic simulation -- each
team consists of eleven autonomous software players. (v) RoboCup Junior:
a simplified version of RoboCup designed for elementary and secondary
school children -- using LEGO mindstorm kits, the competition features
small custom-built robots. (vi) Humanoid demonstration: two-legged
human-like robots will be demonstrated. (vii) Robot Rescue: robots
explore an arena built to simulate a building after an earthquake.
The robots seek out injured persons in the building to rescue them.
RoboCup will begin with the elimination rounds from August 4th
to August 6th. Then the competition will peak for the finals
on August 9th and 10th. All days are OPEN to the public and media
from 7:30am to 6:00pm.
Countries of RoboCup participants:
The United States, Japan, Singapore, Australia, China, Iran,
New Zealand, Canada, Germany, Finland, Italy, Portugal,
United Kingdom, Sweden, France, Spain, Russia,
Turkey, Bulgaria, Taiwan, the Netherlands, Belgium, Brazil.
Soccer is one of the most popular team sports in the world. It is both dynamic to play and exciting to watch.
Using a team sport introduces issues of collaboration as well as
competition. Another advantage of soccer is that, unlike many sports,
it can be played meaningful in 2 dimensions, i.e. without the ball
leaving the ground.
In order for the Robot to play a game of soccer, wide ranges of technology need to be integrated and numbers of
technical breakthroughs must be accomplished, including new materials, sensors, artificial muscle, artificial intelligence,
intelligent robotics, highly efficient battery, energy saving systems etc.
Yes there are 4 leagues associated with RoboCup.
Small sized Robot League (F180): teams of autonomous small size robot (15cm in diameter) play soccer game on a
field equivalent to a ping-pong table. Each team consists of 5 robots.
Middle sized Robot League: Teams of autonomous mid size robot (50cm in diameter) play soccer on a field 9m x 5m.
Each team consists of four robots. Sony Legged League: soccer game using the Sony four
legged robots. Each team consists of 3 robots.
Simulator League: Simulation of soccer using artificial intelligence programs. Each team consists of
eleven autonomous software players. Sophisticated rules such as "offside" apply in this league.
By all accounts this may sound overly ambitious. In fact, if you compare this goal to other ground breaking
achievements it is not ambitious at all. The Wright brothers' first airplane was launched and 50 years later man landed
on the moon. Even more recently Deep Blue the computer programmed to play chess, played chess grand master
Garry Kasparov and won -- roughly 50 years after the deployment of the
first computer. It's a long time. Think what has happened since 1950.
The organizing body of RoboCup. It is a non-profit body based in Switzerland.
1992: Grand Challenges in Artificial Intelligence workshop held in Tokyo, Japan.
The event will attract over 20,000 in the US alone with an
international audience of 3 million
(3,000,000) closely following their nations' progress through television and the Web
Once the game starts, the robots play by themselves, without any human intervention. No remote controls. No
strings attached!!
Some teams have robots with very different capabilities. But it is hard to think of them as having personalities; rather
the robots have different playing styles.
Anne Watzman, Carnegie Mellon (412) 268-3830, John Watson, SGI (650) 933-1652
RoboCup-2001 will feature teams of robots ranging in size from some so
small they'll compete on a ping-pong table-sized field to others the
size of adult humans. They've been developed by some of the brightest
minds at academic institutions around the world doing research in
multi-agent and multi-robot systems.
The robots will meet on the
convention floor in four different competitions, including the
Simulation League, Small-size Robot League, Middle-size Robot League
and the Sony Legged Robot League. There will also be demonstrations
of humanoid robots and a competition using robots to simulate a rescue
mission in a real disaster scenario, like
an earthquake or mudslide.
There is also RoboCup Junior, a competition designed for middle and high
school students who build robots using LEGO Mindstorm kits. Held last year
for the first time, this competition attracted more than 250 young people
from around the world.
A key goal of the RoboCup competition is to create a team of fully
autonomous soccer-playing robots that will beat the human world champion
soccer team by the year 2050.
RoboCup is an international research and academic initiative founded by
Hiroaki Kitano, a highly respected researcher who continues to push the
boundaries of science with his exploration of artificial intelligence and
intelligent robotics.
The first RoboCup competitions were held in 1997 in Nagoya, Japan, with 12
international teams participating. Other competitions have taken place in
Paris, Stockholm and last year in Melbourne, Australia, where 110 teams
from 19 countries took part in the largest RoboCup competition to date.
RoboCup 2001 promises to be even larger. This year more than 120 teams from
25 countries are expected to participate.
In this year's tourney, which is open to the public, round robin
competition takes place Aug. 4, 5 and 6. Aug 7 includes the junior
competition. Aug. 8 will feature the RoboCup/AAAI robot rescue final.
Quarter and semi, final competitions will take place Aug. 9, followed by a
grand finale on Aug. 10, with finals, awards and ceremonies.
RoboCup 2001 worldwide sponsors are Sony Corp. and SGI. The American
Association for Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) and Carnegie Mellon
University are local sponsors. Carnegie Mellon has pioneered in the
development of soccer-playing robots to investigate team learning for
autonomous robots since 1995.
1993: AI researchers decide to create an international robotics competition.
1995: Preparations for the 1st RoboCup commence.
1997: First Robot World Cup Soccer Games held in Nagoya, Japan.
1998: RoboCup held in Paris, France. (Alongside the Official Soccer World Cup in France, France win) 22 Countries
are represented by 70 teams over 20,000 people attend.
1999: RoboCup-99 held in Stockholm, Sweden.
2000: RoboCup-2000 in Melbourne, Australia.
2001: For the first time RoboCup is held in North America.