Worksheet (Week 13) SVIP

RoboCup is a football competition that has taken place every year since 1997. But the players are not human; they are robots. The competition's full name is ‘Robot Soccer World Cup,' and the aim is to create a team of robot footballers that are able to play against and beat the winners of the real World Cup.

In order for robots to play football, robotics companies have had to develop special technologies. A robot can't just run onto the field and start kicking the ball. Each robot is fitted with a webcam which is connected to a computer inside the robot. The robot is able to see where the other players are, where the goal is and, most importantly, where the ball is. They are programmed to make their own decisions and during the match the robots' creators are not allowed to tell them what to do. The robots are, however, able to communicate with other members of their team, via a wireless network. For example, they might communicate a message like this to a team-mate: ‘I'm nearest the ball. I'm going to kick it. You go and defend the goal.'

There is a long way to go before robots will be able to compete against humans. They need to become more intelligent and become able to react more quickly and anticipate the game. But the technologies that are being developed for scoring goals have other uses as well. It may be possible to develop robots that can be used in search and rescue, for example, finding people trapped in buildings after earthquakes.