400 Teams Participating in 2005 Robocup

Posted on June 27, 2005

This year, Robocup will take place in Osaka, Japan from July 13-19. Robocup is an event where robot teams compete in soccer (or footbal as the sport is known in most of the world). Soccer is being used a way to measure the advancement of robots and the competition is starting to get pretty serious. This year the number of entries for RoboCup Osaka 2005 by teams from all over the world have exceeded the expectations and experiences of former editions. Teams from 35 countries with more than 400 teams, approx. twelve hundred members intend to take part. Most entries came from Japan,Germany, Iran, China, and USA. The concept of soccer-playing robots was first introduced in 1993 and momentum for robot soccer has been building ever since. Here are some of the different leagues competiting in Robocup:

  • Simulation league
    Independently moving software players (agents) play soccer on a virtual field inside a computer. Matches have 5-minute halves. This is one of the oldest fleet in RoboCupSoccer. There are three competitions in this league; coach, 2D and 3D.

  • Small-size robot league (f-180)
    Small robots of no more than 18 cm in diameter play soccer with an orange golf ball in teams of up to 5 robots on a field (5m x 3.4m) with the size of bigger than a ping-pong table. Matches have 10-minute halves.

  • Middle-size robot league (f-2000)
    Middle-sized robots of no more than 50 cm square play soccer in teams of from 4 to 6 robots with an orange soccer ball on a field the size of 12x8 metres. Matches are divided in 10-minute halves. Each team develops their own robots, so robots play with different styles,

  • Four-legged robot league
    Teams of 4 four-legged entertainment robots (Sony’s AIBO) play football with an orange ball. The size of the field is 4m x 6m. All the computation is done in the on the board computer. Matches have 10-minute halves.

  • Humanoid league
    This league was introduced in 2002 and the robots will have their fourth appearance ever in this year’s RoboCup. Biped autonomous humanoid robots compete in "penalty kick," and “2 vs. 2” matches. "Free style" competitions are to be expected as well. Louis Vuitton Humanoid Cup is awarded to the best humanoid team of the year.

    Robocup also has a more practical Robocup Rescue program which has to do with developing robots for search and rescue type missionis.

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