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Football-Playing Robots Compete At RoboCup 2017 (phys.org)

An anonymous reader quotes Phys.org: With steely focus, player number 3 scored a stunning opening goal in the first few minutes of the high-stakes football match between a dominant Bordeaux and their plucky Chinese opponents. But as the crowds cheered, the pint-sized player, known as Arya, showed none of the customary swagger of triumphant strikers. In fact, robot number 3 and its teammates showed no emotion at all as they continued to exterminate their rivals' hopes of victory at RoboCup 2017 in Japan. The game, which Bordeaux won 4-0, was one of the gripping final matches in a four-day event that saw about 3,000 researchers and engineering students from 40 countries displaying the prowess of their latest robotic inventions on the football pitch.

Ranging in design from humanoids with human faces to more skeletal contraptions, the robots were programmed to be self-directed and played strategically without being given instructions. The robots "see" using a camera installed in their heads, while installed with artificial intelligence to recognise the spacing and objects in the sight... [A]bility to play as a team was the "winning factor" in Bordeaux University's triumph, according to associate professor Olivier Ly, who acted as coach and positioned his team's players. "We developed lots of features on the team play... The robots play together, try to do some passes," he said.

Robot teamwork "was a completely unresearched area for computer engineers" when the competition started 20 years ago, according to the president of the RoboCup Federation.

6 of 38 comments (clear)

  1. Re:what were the game odds? by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 3, Insightful

    this gets real when money is wagered

    Obviously you'll be betting in Bit-Coin

    --

    Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.

  2. It's not real until they learn to dive. by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's not real football until Jose Mourinho trains the robots to fall over when they're approached.

    --
    "That's the way to do it" - Punch
  3. Video of the first goal by Maddog+Batty · · Score: 3, Informative

    Stunning might be a little bit of an exaggeration.

    https://youtu.be/BUxqFlrvkQk?t=15582

    (hopefully that is the right match)

    --
    wot no sig
    1. Re:Video of the first goal by SmilingBoy · · Score: 4, Informative

      Not the right match. Your video is from the standard platform league, where off-the-shelf robots are used with custom software. Here is a video with the highlights of the correct match mentioned in the article lead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... Still not close to human abilities but much better than 10 years ago or so. The more impressive league for the layman is the middle sized league, which uses robots with wheels. Last year's final here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  4. Re:Probably a lot smarter than your average player by Maritz · · Score: 2

    Ah yes, 'foot' ball, where you largely travel with the ball in hand. Makes sense.

    --
    I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
  5. Re:Probably a lot smarter than your average player by RobotRunAmok · · Score: 2

    Ah, yes, "Cricket," where no bugs are used.