For the tenth time in 13 years, a University of New South Wales has finished in the top three of the RoboCup 2012 robot soccer tournament. This year, UNSW took the bronze medal in the standard platform division after being beaten 7-6 in the semi-final by eventual champions University of Texas.
Photo: RoboCup Federation
During the tournament UNSW scored 62 goals and conceded 13.
Team member Sean Harris, a first-year PhD student who is investigating machine learning, said programmers need to work on vision, localisation, mobility and behaviour so that the robots can work out where they are in relation to other objects, move faster and in a more stable way, and take action to move the ball from wherever it is to where they think it should be (ultimately, in the opponent's goal).
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In the 2008 competition, the first time the current Aldebaran Robotics Nao robot platform was used, most of the games were 0-0 draws. But as each team's code is made available to all entrants in the following year, progress is rapid. "This year we saw games with as many as 13 goals being scored, so it’s definitely come a long way," said Mr Harris.
A video of the RoboCup 2012 final is available on YouTube.
The goal of the RoboCup Federation is to create by the middle of the century a humanoid robot soccer team that can beat the then-reigning FIFA World Cup holders.
