Welcome to RoboCup
LEAGUES
ROBOCUP SOCCER
The main focus of the RoboCup competitions is the game of soccer, where the research goals concern cooperative multi-robot and multi-agent systems in dynamic adversarial environments. All robots in this league are fully autonomous. The ultimate goal of the RoboCup project is by 2050, develop a team of fully autonomous humanoid robots that can win against the human world champion team in soccer.
There are five leagues in RoboCup Soccer:
1. Simulation League
2. Small Size Robot League
3. Middle Size Robot League
4. Standard Platform League
5. Humanoid League
ROBOCUP RESCUE
Disaster rescue is one of the most serious social issue which involves very large numbers of heterogeneous agents in the hostile environment. The intention of the RoboCupRescue project is to promote research and development in this socially significant domain at various levels involving multi-agent team work coordination, physical robotic agents for search and rescue, information infrastructures, personal digital assistants, a standard simulator and decision support systems, evaluation benchmarks for rescue strategies and robotic systems that are all integrated into a comprehensive systems in future.
There are two leagues in RoboCup Rescue:
1. Rescue Robot
2. Rescue Simulation
ROBOCUP@HOME
The competition of RoboCup @Home consists of tests which the robots have to solve. The tests will change over the years to become more advanced and function as an overall quality measurement in desired areas. The ultimate scenario is the real world itself. To build up the required technologies gradually a basic home environment is provided as a general scenario. In the first years (the league started in 2006) it will consist of a living room and a kitchen but soon it should also involve other areas of daily life, such as a garden/park area, a shop, a street or other public places.
CHALLENGE: A set of benchmark tests is used to evaluate the robots’ abilities and performance in a realistic non-standardized home environment setting. Focus lies on the following domains but is not limited to: Human-Robot-Interaction and Cooperation, Navigation and Mapping in dynamic environments, Computer Vision and Object Recognition under natural light conditions, Object Manipulation, Standardization and System Integration.
Intention of Participation:
The team sends an email to the OC members in the below mentioned format to indicate the intention to participate in the RoboCup@Home 2014 event to the OC mailing list at: [email protected]
Please fill in the following basic information:
Team Name:
Country:
Affiliation:
Team Leader Name:
Contact information (E-mail):
Web site:
ROBOCUP@WORK DEMO
RoboCup@Work is a new competition in RoboCup that targets the use of robots in work-related scenarios. It aims to foster research and development that enables use of innovative mobile robots equipped with advanced manipulators for current and future industrial applications, where robots cooperate with human workers for complex tasks ranging from manufacturing, automation, and parts handling up to general logistics. The objects for manipulation will include a wide range of objects relevant in industrial applications of robotics and eventually cover any raw material, semi-finished parts, and finished parts and products as well as tools and possibly operating materials required for manufacturing processes.
CHALLENGE: The RoboCup@Work League specifically targets several new challenges, which so far are not pursued by other competitions or RoboCup leagues: mobile manipulation, logistics, cooperative mobile manipulation and multi agent planning, scheduling and multi-criteria optimization.
ROBOCUP LOGISTICS LEAGUE SPONSORED BY FESTO
The steady increase in worldwide transport tasks asks for improved autonomous solutions. Following the RoboCup spirit this league’s objective is to enable scientific work in order to achieve a flexible solution of material and informational flow within industrial production using self-organising Robots. This next evolution of Automated Guided Vehicles calls for new technologies to overcome present non feasibilities. At present, the competition envisages a kind of hardware-in-the-loop simulation method, i.e. there is a flexible simulated production hall with integrated real mobile robot systems having the task to create an efficient material flow to provide a high rate of product deliveries in due time.
CHALLENGE: A team consisting of three robots has to solve the logistic challenges of an almost unknown production system. The Logistics League is based on the robot platform Robotino® of Festo. Participants face no limitations in terms of sensors and their approaches to program the robots. This interdisciplinary challenge in the fields of Mechatronics, Computer Science and Logistics has to be answered with a flexible yet precise autonomous solution to deal with communicating to an order processing, out-of-order machines, express goods, changing delivery gates and a random machine distribution.
ROBOCUPJUNIOR
RoboCupJunior is a project-oriented educational initiative that sponsors local, regional and international robotic events for young students. It is designed to introduce RoboCup to primary and secondary school children, as well as undergraduates who do not have the resources to get involved in the senior leagues yet. The focus of the Junior League lies on education. The tournament offers to the participants the chance to take part in international exchange programs and to share the experience of meeting peers from abroad. The Junior League has three different competitions:
JUNIOR SOCCER: 2-on-2 teams of autonomous mobile robots play in a highly dynamic environment, tracking a special light-emitting ball in an enclosed, landmarked field.
JUNIOR DANCE: One or more robots come together with music, dressed in costume and moving in creative harmony.
JUNIOR RESCUE: Robots identify victims within re-created disaster scenarios, varying in complexity from line-following on a flat surface to negotiating paths through obstacles on uneven terrain.
SYMPOSIUM
We are very pleased to welcome you to the 18th RoboCup International Symposium!
The 18th annual RoboCup International Symposium will be held in conjunction with RoboCup 2014, on July 25th. The Symposium represents the core meeting for presentation and discussion of scientific contributions to a variety of research areas related to all RoboCup divisions (RoboCupSoccer, RoboCupRescue, RoboCup@Home, RoboCup@Work and RoboCupJunior). Its scope encompasses, but is not restricted to, research and educational activities within the fields of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence.
Due to its interdisciplinary nature, the symposium offers a unique venue for exploring various and intimate connections of theory and practice across a wide spectrum of research fields. The experimental, interactive, and benchmark character of the RoboCup initiative presents the opportunity to disseminate novel ideas and promising technologies, which are rapidly adopted and field-tested by a large (and still growing) community.
For the 18th RoboCup International Symposium, we received a total of 72 submissions, which were reviewed carefully by the International Program Committee, consisting of 53 members. Each paper was reviewed by at least three reviewers. Overall, we accepted 39 of those (54%), of which 12 were chosen for oral presentation. All papers will be published as full papers in a special book of the Springer LNCS/LNAI series.
This year we will have two invited speakers: Rodney Brooks, Professor emeritus at MIT, robotics entrepreneur and Founder, Chairman and CTO of Rethink Robotics; and Sami Haddadin, full professor and director of the Institute of Automatic Control (IRT) at Leibniz University Hanover.
In addition, a new track on the advancement of the RoboCup Major leagues takes place at this year’s RoboCup Symposium.
We look forward to seeing all of your presentations in João Pessoa!
Reinaldo A. C. Bianchi, FEI University
H. Levent Akin, Bogaziçi University
Subramanian Ramamoorthy, University of Edinburgh
Komei Sugiura, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology
The 2014 Symposium Co-Chairs
OVERVIEW
The use of robotics for educational purposes has been pursued for a long time and has become more and more popular. Several factors have contributed to such situation, such as the availability of adequate and inexpensive robotics kits in the market and individual components, as well as the proliferation of robotics competitions for the pre-university levels. As a consequence, robotics started to be incorporated into classroom lessons and has become a learning tool for teaching concepts in a broad range of areas, from electricity and mechanics to programming, mathematics, physics, etc.
In this workshop, we aim at bringing together teachers, mentors, and students from schools, clubs, community centers, and educational institutions offering formal and informal educational opportunities in robotics, to discuss their experiences and the current practices using robotics. This workshop hopes to also provide a place to share relevant projects and discuss specific technical issues that may arise in different learning setting as well as the impact of robotics in education.
AREAS OF INTEREST
Some examples of topics of particular interest to this workshop are:
* impact of robotics in the learning process
* impact of educational robotics in the community
* school projects involving robotics
* specific use of robots to demonstrate scientific concepts
* techniques to build robots
* use of sensors
* showcase of students (teams) accomplishment with robotics, especially with RoboCupJunior leagues
TYPES OF PRESENTATION
* hands-on experience to introduce or teach new robotics ideas/tools (1-2 hrs)
* mentor/teacher presentation of their practice (20-30 min)
* students/team presentation of their accomplishment (showcase, 20-30 min)
For information about past presentations/papers, visit:
.
IMPORTANT DATES
* submissions deadline: June 13, 2014
* notification of acceptance: June 23, 2014
* submission of final version: July 11, 2014
SUBMISSION
Please, write a brief text explaining your presentation. It can be from a single page to a maximum of 6 pages. All submitted papers must be written in English, in single column and following the template that you can find under “Author Guidelines” in http://www.springer.com/series/1244. We will post all accepted papers and their presentations on the RoboCupJunior website under the resources page.
Once your paper is ready to be submitted, please, send it by email directly to the workshop organizers (Amy Eguchi – [email protected] and Luis Almeida – [email protected]).
If you have registered for RoboCupJunior, you will have an access to the RoboCup Symposium and to this workshop. If you wish to present at the workshop but are not registered for RoboCupJunior or RoboCup, you need to register for the RoboCup Symposium, which will also grant an access to the co-located events such as this workshop.
VISITORS INFO
RoboCup is not only for the contestants. It is an event opened to the public with many attractions. During this mega-event that will take place in the Centro de Convenções in João Pessoa, you’ll be able to see all the latest technology in action in many different ways!
Visit Visits to competitions.
Do you wanna visit RoboCup 2014? You are invited to watch exciting robot soccer matches, competitions of rescue robots, service robots, home robots and presentations of dance with robots. Come and watch! The entrance is FREE and it is not necessary to schedule. Since there are lots of activities that happen during all day for adults and children, the ideal is that you can book a whole period to your visitation. The convention center has a lot of attractions, food and is prepared to receive you and your family for a very special day. We recommend you to download the floorplan for visitors.
Guided visits for groups.
If you have a large group (more than 10 people) and your group is not familiar with robotics, you can ask for a “guided visit”. In this visitation mode you will be assisted by volunteers of RoboCup. They will explain to you and your group the basic concepts in your tour. This kind of visitation is ideal for schools, educational groups or groups of people with special needs and is free. If this is your case, please fill our guided visit form.
Interaction with robots.
Besides watch exciting contests, you will find in RoboCup 2014 a special area with robots with whom people can interact. Special expositions will be available during all day on the days open to the public, and it is free. Bring your family to know this magic technological world!
Workshops.
RoboCup 2014 is preparing several courses and workshops focusing on the construction of robots for all ages. If you are interested in such kind of activity, please check our page of events for visitors. Some of the courses/workshops may require registration.
Symposium.
If you are a robotics researcher, engineering student or if you have some basic knowledge in this area we recommend to you to join the RoboCup Symposium, where you will find some of the most important robotics researchers around the world, as well as the most recent works in robotics field. The RoboCup Symposium program will be available here.The symposium requires previous registration and it is not free.
Services.
Besides watch exciting contests, you will find in RoboCup 2014 a special area with robots with whom people can interact. Special expositions will be available during all day on the days open to the public, and it is free. Bring your family to know this magic technological world!
When?
Visitation on RoboCup 2014 will start on Sunday 20th July. That marks the start of four days of demos, matches and much technology, ending on Thursday 24 July with the contest finals day. Some of the courses and workshops may have special schedule. Please, check opening hours of the event.
LOCATION
ABOUT BRAZIL
History
Natively inhabited by numerous tribal nations, Brazil was colonized by the Portuguese in the 1500′s and has become a Republic in 1889. Between 1890-1920, the country has experienced a massive imigrantion from Euroupe and Japan, what influenced the nation in many aspects. Known as a cultural mix, the country has, for instance, the largest community of Japanese in the world outside Japan and it is well-considered by the great hospitality of its population.
Climate
Due to its large area and topographic variety, climatic conditions produce environments ranging from Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests in the north and semiarid deserts in the northeast, to temperate forests in the south and tropical savannas in the center of the country.
Cousine
Brazilian cousine is highly influenced by European, African and Asian ones. Fresh fruits, juices and seafood are found easily everywhere and rice is the main sidedishe. Due to the mix of cultural influences, Pizzerias, Trattorias, Bistros, Chinese and Japanese restaurants are as easy to find as any local food. As its Latin Neighbour countries, churrasco, a kind of barbecue, is one of the countries speciallities. Feijoada, moqueca, tapioca, coconut water and guaraná (a typical soft drink) are must-tries when visiting the country.
Language
The language is one of the strongest elements of Brazil’s national unity. The official language of the country is Portuguese and it is spoken by 99% of the population.
Currency
Real (R$) is the official currency of the country. One Real is about 0.4 U$ dollars.
Curiosities
– School/Universitiy periods in Brazil are: 1st semester (February-June) and 2nd semester (August-December);
– The usual time for meals are: breakfast (7am-9am), lunch (12am-14pm) and dinner (7pm-10pm);
– Tips are usually charged in the bill. Ask if the 10% is already charged before tipping.
VISITORS INFO
João Pessoa is located in the northeast of the Brazilian coast. Capital of Paraíba state, with close to 720,000 inhabitants, João Pessoa is a peaceful touristic place with a beautiful seaside, also known as the second greenest city in the world and the easternmost place of the Americas. There are two major Atlantic Forest reserves inside the city with an enourmous biodiversity. The average temperature in the city during all year is about 28o Celsius, with minimum variation. The sun rises about 4:50h and sets around 17:20h.
João Pessoa’s Attractions
Cabo Branco Beach Cabo Branco is the main beach of João Pessoa with clean swimming water and many seafront restaurants. Sunset at Jacaré Beach In João Pessoa the sunset has a soundtrack. Everyday, when the sun gives the last gasps in the river beach of Jacaré, saxophonist “Jurady Sax” intones the “Bolero” by Ravel. Picãozinho Picãozinho is a reef formation located about 1500 meters from the beach of Tambaú. Areia Vermelha Areia Vermelha (The Red Sand Island) is a sandbar about two miles long situated in front of Camboinha Beach (about 17km from Tambaú beach). Estação Ciência and Farol do Cabo Branco Cabo Branco Station – Science, Culture and Arts was designed by the brazilian famous architect Oscar Niemeyer (the designer of Brasilia, Brazil’s capital) and inaugurated on July, 2008. The complex has more than 8,500 m² of built area in the Altiplano Cabo Branco district. |
RoboCup: the World Championship on robotics!
RoboCup was founded in 1997 with the main goal of “developing by 2050 a Robot Soccer team capable of winning against the human team champion of the FIFA World Cup”. In the next years, RoboCup proposed several soccer platforms that have been established as standard platforms for robotics research. This domain demonstrated the capability of capturing key aspects of complex real world problems, stimulating the development of a wide range of technologies, including the design of electrical-mechanical-computational integrated techniques for autonomous robots. After more than 15 years of RoboCup, nowadays robot soccer represents only a part of the available platforms.
RoboCup has already grown into a project which gets worldwide attention. Every year, multiple tournaments are organized in different countries all over the world, where teams from all over the world participate in various disciplines. There are tournaments in Germany, Portugal, China, Brazil, etc. In 2014, RoboCup will be hosted for the 1st time in South America, in Brazil.