'Expanded German Football League' for robots

Football for robots is an ambitious high-tech competition for universities, research institutes and industry. Some tournaments have been scheduled for 2008, with the biggest scale being the 'RoboCup Open German Championship'. From April 21 to 25, over 40 research groups from more than 15 countries will face at the Hannover Messe. Through a series of matches, these groups will let the audience enjoy their latest technologies.

For machines, a football game is a highly complex task. The robot must be able to recognize the ball, the boundary and the goalpost in addition to distinguishing the home team and the opponent. To accomplish these, they are equipped with all kinds of high-tech such as cameras and sensors for scanning ambient, internal processors to convert data to determine tactics. and defensive tactics, and advanced engines that allow these auto players to move on the field and suddenly overtake their opponents.

There are currently 9 groups, each focusing on a different type of technology. In the middle-sized group, robots move by wheels. Each team has a goalkeeper and four players compete on a 20x14m pitch with a standard golf course. They must be able to operate completely independently and be equipped with built-in camera systems to process real-time information. Furthermore, robots can move up to 2m / sec.

At the RoboCup competition, automatic two-legged robots are one of the types of robots that are put into play. (Photo: Fraunhofer IAIS)

Other automatic "players" , such as Sony's Aibo robot, run on four tripods. And bipedal players have been competing against each other at RobotCup since 2005. According to Dr. Ansgar Bredenfeld, who runs RoboCup at IAIS, 'Human-like robots have advanced quite a bit in recent years. Like real players, they fall and stand up again, automatically chasing the ball and scoring goals. '

RoboCup means more than a football tournament. Since 2006, the organizers have included the category 'RoboCup Home' (a domestic help robot), a competition for service robots. In a self-made room, robots must go to the refrigerator, pick up garbage and identify people. In the 'RoboCup-Rescue' category, the robots must complete an obstacle course.

According to Professor Stefan Wrobel, CEO at IAIS, 'RoboCup has boosted technological progress in a way that without it, this would not happen. Many technologies are only designed specifically for player robots already present in other applications, such as determining directions in investigating robots. ' Robots that cut grass themselves or collect samples from the seabed for ocean researchers are also equipped with RoboCup technology.

Contestants under the age of 20 will have their own tournament 'RoboCupJunior' , which takes place at the same time as the 'RoboCupSenior' award . In addition to football tournaments for robots, future scientists can also participate in RoboDance (dance robot) and RoboRescue (obstacle race). These prizes are extremely popular: about 300 teams have registered for competition this year. To be present in Hannover, teams must have a good track record in one of the three leagues. Wrobel said 'RoboCupJunior is a very important event, because it provokes passion for youth science and technology courses.'

This tournament is organized by Fraunhofer Institute of Intelligence Analysis and Information System, organized and run in Sankt Augustin.