The RoboCup project aspires to create a squad of humanoid robots to defeat the official human World Soccer Champion team by 2050. This mission mirrors the historic challenge posed to artificial intelligence in chess, which was achieved when IBM’s Deep Blue defeated the reigning World Chess Champion, Garry Kasparov, in 1997. Various specialized RoboCup soccer leagues concentrate on distinct facets of this ambition. Among them, the Humanoid League shows the most dynamic progress and is the league that is closest to realizing the 2050 objective.
About the Humanoid League
In the Humanoid League, autonomous robots resembling humans in their physical structure and sensory capabilities compete in soccer matches. Unlike their counterparts in other leagues, these humanoid robots can’t rely on non-human-like range sensors to simplify the tasks of perception and world modeling. Besides the thrilling soccer matches, the league also hosts technical challenges. Research topics explored in the Humanoid League include dynamic walking and running, kicking the ball while maintaining balance, visually perceiving the ball, the field, and other players, self-localization, and team collaboration.
Competitions
The robots are categorized into three distinct size groups: KidSize (height ranging from 40-90cm), TeenSize (height between 80-140cm), and AdultSize (130-180cm in height). In the KidSize soccer division, teams of four highly agile and autonomous robots compete against each other. From 2010 onwards, the TeenSize soccer category features dual robot teams engaging in intense competition. In the AdultSize soccer league, a striker robot initially competes against a goalkeeper robot, and then they switch roles to compete again.
Rules
The Technical Committee, which includes members elected by the teams, is responsible for formulating the rules of the Humanoid League. Input and votes from the team leaders, collected during the annual meetings held at RoboCup events, significantly influence the evolution of the rules. The committee encourages suggestions, corrections, and feedback, which can be shared directly with the Technical Committee or via the league’s mailing list.
Here is the latest rules example in World RoboCup 2023
Reference: RoboCup Soccer Humanoid League