Soccer-playing robots combine research, study and industry for new service robot concepts

They have tinkered, bolted and programmed. And developed a vast pool of technological know-how in the field of autonomous robots: 321 teams from universities, research institutes and schools in 39 countries had everything to play for at the beginning of July in the RoboCup World Championship in Atlanta (USA). KUKA Roboter was there, supporting the event as a Premier Sponsor and presenting the first ever “KUKA Award for Innovations”.

KUKA Robot Group Newsletter editorial team, July 2007

The Georgia Tech University in Atlanta played host to this year’s RoboCup soccer world championship. Continuing the trend from previous years, however, attention at the RoboCup 2007 was by no means focused exclusively on the actual soccer itself. This is a good sign for the development of robotics, as new fields are continuously being tapped around the RoboCup World Championship that will affect both service robots of the future and also innovative industrial robots that cooperate with human operators. These are good reasons for KUKA Roboter to support this event as a Premier Sponsor and to present the “KUKA Award for Innovations”.

The presentation of a new competition aroused particular interest in Atlanta: the Nanogram League, a tournament in which tiny robots compete against one another. This was a premiere that could easily have gone unnoticed if there had not been microscopes available for observation purposes. The disciplines of the nano-robots include soccer and 2-mm sprinting. The Nanogram League is the logical development of the RoboCup concept. Right from the outset, the initiators of the event had envisaged the soccer disciplines being joined by other contests. While orientation on the soccer pitch requires certain basic abilities, such as selflocalization, path planning or choice of action, which are necessary for a wide range of routine tasks, most concrete applications require additional specific skills. That is why, since 2001, there has been a separate competition in the RoboCup for rescue robots; here, unlike in the soccer competition, remote control is permissible. Last year saw the inauguration of the RoboCup@Home League; in this competition, the robots have to master tasks in a domestic setting. The actual soccer competition has been expanded to include new leagues for fourlegged and two-legged robots, some of which are in turn divided into various subcategories.

Spectacular dribbling and precise passes

It was, of course, the traditional soccer competitions that were the main focus of attention. Once again, it was the latest robotic developments that stood out with spectacular dribbling in the Middle Size League, the “top flight” of the eight soccer leagues taking part, and precision passing in the Small Size League. Now that the two- and four-legged robots have overcome their teething troubles, exciting encounters are assured. Stuart Shepherd, president of KUKA Robotics USA, learnt this the hard way in the traditional opening match that pits human versus robot goalkeeper: he had to work extremely hard before ultimately leaving the field victorious.

Of particular interest to the spectators was the Humanoid League. Right from the initial testing phase, the movements of many of the two-legged robots were remarkably sure and steady. The Soccer Simulation league also attracted increased attention: for the first time, spectators had the chance to see real players with bodies and limbs affected by gravity and friction. The matches were convincing, although the proportions of the simulated players were not yet quite right: they were over four meters tall, but weighed only about five kilos – for this reason, they had difficulty maintaining their balance whenever they kicked the ball. The available computing power also meant that it was only possible to field teams of three against three. One thing was clear, however: these humanoid robots are becoming ever more realistic.