2004 IRISH SCIENTIST YEAR BOOK

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Cork Institute of Technology
Joseph Connell, Mary Looney, Donal O'Donovan & Tom O'Mahony
Robotic soccer

Robotic Soccer in Action

Staff in the Department of Electronic Engineering at CIT will shortly field an international soccer team to participate at European and World Championship level! But this is a soccer team with a difference.

Recently, the Department invested in a robotic soccer facility. On a pitch, measuring two metres by one metre, and without any human intervention, two teams of three robots face each other. Box shaped, measuring 8x8x6 cms, with on-board microprocessor and powered by two motorised wheels, each robot defends or attacks as both teams try to hit an orange coloured golf ball into the opposition goal. Overhead, pc-linked high speed cameras feed data to real time software. Coloured markings on the robots help distinguish between teams. Image processing then determines current robot positions, directions and speeds, and those of the golf ball, to decide on the next robot moves. Robot control is via the Bluetooth wireless link. Success hinges on accurate information and software ingenuity.


System Layout of Robotic Soccer Unit

Two world robotic soccer federations currently exist. They organise their own leagues and competitions, but they have one stated aim: to develop a team of fully autonomous humanoid robots that can win against the human world champion team in soccer by the year 2050. To realise this aim, robotic soccer rules are made more challenging every year. This means integrating ever more individual technical specialisations ever more fully to meet these challenges. The functionality of the soccer unit described above is based on centralised control and a centralised source of information, i.e. the camera. More sophisticated functionality will require distributed processing, distributed decision making and distributed information gathering.

The Department's Advanced Control Group incorporates specialists in image processing, control theory, mobile communications and digital signal processing. The group is experienced in integrating its strengths to tackle applied problems. It also knows that success in robotic soccer will require the know-how of allied disciplines in physics, mechanics and computer science. Like any team-based sport, success is about individual skill, awareness and intelligence being integrated into a team strategy that is clearly understood by all members. Success in robotic soccer is about success of the technical team.

Contact: Dr Joseph Connell, Advanced Control Group, Department of Electronic Engineering, Cork Institute of Technology;
E-mail: [email protected] ; Web: www.cit.ie