After a great tournament in Eindhoven the robots of Tech United Eindhoven delivered some wonderful results! TUlip, the humanoid robot which participated in the humanoid adult size league ended up 4th, just like last year in Mexico City. AMIGO, the care robot of Tech United, which participated in the @Home League reached the finals! Last year the team ended up 7th but this year they improved a lot and they became 3th! In the Middle Size League the soccerrobots of Tech United won the worldcup last year, unfortunately this year team Water from China beated Tech United during the extra time and Tech United ended up 2th. Three wonderful results of Tech United Eindhoven and we are looking forward to RoboCup 2014 in Brasil!
On the second day of RoboCup 2013, Tuesday, the scientific challenge took place in de Middle Size League. In the scientific challeges every team had to present a technical development from last year. Gerald Koudijs from Tech United presented the automatic referee and won this challenge for Tech United! The automatic referee has to make robot football fully autonomous by also taking over the tasks from the referee, which are currently performed by a human. Hopefully the next Technical Challenge, today at 20.30, will be as good as this one!
This morning the MSL football players played ia friendly match againt the viceworld champion. Tech United scored 4 times and our goalkeeper did not let any ball pass him: 4-0! A good start of the day for the MSL team of Tech United!
Also TUlip, the humanoid robot played his first two matches. In these matches no goals were scored and the matches ended with a tie.
The servicerobot AMIGO will have his first challenge at 17.30 today, during the RIPS challege he will register himself.
The world championship RoboCup will start in less than one week! Throughout the whole year all the teams worked with full dedication to improve our robots. In one week is the moment of truth, RoboCup 2013. Last year the world cup was in Mexico and next year the event will be held in Brazil, but this year our robots will play home, here in Eindhoven!
Soccer robots
Last year we improved our TURTLEs a lot. At this moment the robots are tested thoroughly. Last year we improved our software. The robots have more tactical skill now. Where they could only play one-two passes last year, the robots can now play triangles on the field. The passing is improved as well, this is because the ball handling of the robots is improved. The robots have a better first touch now. The expectations of the current world champion are sky high. We want to prolong our title. Iran, China and Portugal are the most feared opponents, but the soccer robots are ready to rock and roll.
iGreenfield app
A new feature this year is the iGreenfield app. With this app you are able to follow the robots LIVE during a match. The app visualizes the knowledge and decisions from the robots during the autonomous play on the tournament. Are you curious to see this robot world? Download the free iGreenfield app, you can follow the matches from everywhere! The app is compatible for iPhone and iPad.
Care robot
The care robot from the TU/e will also compete in RoboCup. In about 20 years the care robots will have an important role in healthcare. AMIGO, our care robot, ended on seventh place last world championship in Mexico. The care robot will show his skills by competing in different challenges. He has to clean a room all by himself and has to follow a person while he gets distracted. AMIGO has made large steps this year. The electronics in his arms are replaced and the robot knows better how the surroundings look like and where he is in the room. The last tests are currently executed to make the robot ready for the RoboCup!
Humanoid robot
TUlip, our humanoid robot, is also participant in the world championships. Last year the TUlip became fourth during the RoboCup. This year the robot can walk faster, in order to achieve this, his balance had to be improved. TUlip is also able to position himself better on the field. With these new skills the robot is able to move faster to the ball and can determine a better strategy. Will the TUlip climb on the world ranking this year?
Free entrance RoboCup
Do you support Tech United during the world championships? The RoboCup is open for public from the 26th till the 30th of June and will take place at the Genneper Parcs in Eindhoven! Entrance is free! For more information about the RoboCup you can visit their site http://www.robocup2013.org/.
The soccer robot team from the Technical University of Eindhoven has won the final of the 'Portuguese Open' on the 28th of April in Lisbon. This is an important step towards the WC RoboCup, which will take place from the 26th till the 30th of June.
The opponent in the final was the team of the University of Aveiro. This team managed to beat the current world champion in a poule game by scoring twice from free kicks. In the final the keeper was well prepared and the Portuguese team was beaten with 3 – 0.
In 2050
The main goal of RoboCup is speeding up the development of robot technology, for the purpose of the aging society. In order to achieve this, RoboCup stated a goal: in 2050 a team of soccer robots should be able to beat the human world champion of soccer. Because all the participants share all their new knowledge with each other after the tournaments, the technology makes a lot of progress.
WC RoboCup 2013 in Eindhoven
The world championships RoboCup will be in Eindhoven this year, from the 26th till the 30th of June. This WC-tournament for autonomous robots attracts about 2500 participants from around 40 countries. They will participate with their rescue robots, care robots, dance robots, and of course the soccer robots in competitions to see which team has developed the best robot. The team of the TU Eindhoven will defend the title of world champion robot soccer in the Middle Size League, the league of the leagues from RoboCup. The tournament is open to public and the access is free.
Two years ago, at the RoboCup German Open in Magdeburg, the German composer Ralf Hoyer attended a robotsoccer match between Tech United and Carpe Noctem. Hoyer got so enthousiastic about this that he drove all the way to Eindhoven to visit the RoboCup Dutch Open one year later. There Hoyer invited our team together with the team from Kassel to participate at the ‘Unmenschliche Musik’ festival, which was held last weekend in the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin.
Hoyer equipped every soccerrobot with a speaker and composed different kinds of tones depending on the position and speed of the robots as wel as on the scoreline. Fully automatic music was played and the audience loved it. This show was given every day during the ‘Unmenschliche Musik’ festival and after the performance some people from the audience could try to score a goal against our goalkeeper.
For TURTLE 6 this festival was extra special. TURTLE 6 was equipped with the new ball handling mechanism, optimalized for better passing and ball control. Partly thanks to TURTLE 6, but also thanks to the excellent organisation, the enthousiastic audience and amazing artists the ‘Unmenschliche Musik’ festival was a great succes!
Finally we did it!! For the fifth time in a row we stood in the final, but now for the first time we got the title!! In an exciting replay of the RoboCup Dutch Open final, MRL from Iran was beaten with 4-1.
Just before the game, many things were changed in the software. The helpless feeling after uploading the software, was stronger than ever. Images of the previous four finals flashed through the minds of each team member. We don’t want to lose a final again!
During the final Tech United proved that they have mastered the new application rule, passing the ball over the middle line. Thus, the passes where sharp, exact placed and many opportunities arose. In addition, entirely in Mexican style, the Sombrero was introduced: a flat plate on top of the TURTLEs, which ensured us to stop more lob balls.
The teams working on the AMIGO and the Humanoid robot were also tensed, a real finals atmosphere was created. With a semi-final spot for TUlip and a seventh place for AMIGO they can look back satisfied to this tournament.
Through this way, we want to thank all (former) teammates, fans, sponsors and of course the TU Eindhoven. TURTLE v5, SVN version 4867, 6/23/2012, these are numbers will not forget anymore.
As home-playing team, Tech United competes with all it’s teams on the RoboCup Dutch Open. During the whole tournament all the news and information about the tournament can be found on the site of the organization. Here an overview:
Techunited RT @JannoLunenburg: "AMIGO2 is weer wat verder: wielen, PC's en accu's zitten erop, nu nog bekabeling en motoren en we kunnen gaan rijden! pic.twitter.com/AlKhmFac2j"
