Robo-Soccer Teams Shoot for Big Goals
July 12, 2005 — -- The robots are coming. And like a page from a scary science-fiction story, they are indeed ready to do some serious kicking.
But thankfully, they'll only be aiming at soccer balls, rather than their human creators.
On Wednesday, more than 400 research teams from more than 35 countries will converge on Osaka, Japan, for RoboCup 2005. As in the previous eight international competitions, scientists and developers will show off their latest attempts at developing teams of robots that can compete against others in a game of football -- or soccer, as it's more commonly referred to in the United States.
While images of gangs of automatons -- some shaped like toy robot dogs -- furiously chasing after a colorful ball may seem like pure entertainment, robotics researchers say it isn't just about fun and games. If developers can create the computer and mechanical tools that allow machines to automatically perform effectively as a team, a whole new world of robots may arise.
For example, one day "search and rescue" robot teams may be able to comb through buildings wrecked by earthquakes searching for survivors. If one sensor-equipped robot detects what might be a victim, it could automatically direct another robot -- say, one with a built-in, powerful lifting tool -- to come to its aid and save the human.
"There's always a need for teamwork when it comes to certain tasks," says Manuela Veloso, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, and faculty adviser behind one of the U.S. teams competing in Osaka. "Because they [RoboCup robots] are a team, they could perform beautiful things cooperatively."
But while the concept of teamwork may be something even a child may be able to grasp, getting robots to understand such concepts hasn't been easy. In fact, the early RoboCup competitions were similar to teams of pee-wee soccer leagues comprised of human 6-year-olds: every robot went after the ball, regardless of whether it was playing offense or defense.
