Call for Participation
RoboCup 2020
Humanoid Soccer Competition
June 23rdto June 29th, 2020 (Bordeaux, France)
https://2020.robocup.org/
Contents
The RoboCup Humanoid League is inviting interested teams to apply for participation at the RoboCup 2020 Humanoid Soccer Competition in Bordeaux, France.
The Humanoid League will host competitions in the following categories:
- Humanoid Soccer Competition
- KidSize: 40 – 100cm robot height (FIFA size 1 ball)
- AdultSize: 100 – 200cm robot height (FIFA size 5 ball)
- Humanoid Open Competition (Postponed until 2021)
- KidSize: < 100cm robot height
- AdultSize: > 100cm robot height
- Humanoid Research Demonstration
The Call for Participation concerns the Humanoid Soccer Competition. Separate Calls will be published for the Humanoid Open Competition and the Humanoid Research Demonstration later this year.
For more detailed class definitions and more information about the humanoid league, please refer to the humanoid league home page at https://humanoid.robocup.org/ and join the humanoid league mailing list at: https://lists.cc.gatech.edu/mailman/listinfo/robocup-humanoid
Due to restrictions on the number of teams able to participate at RoboCup 2020, all teams must provide the qualification material described below. To allow for more breadth in participation, teams are encouraged to form joint teams before the event, where appropriate. Joint proposals will be judged on their combined merit.
1. Team Data
- Team name
- URL of the team’s home page
- Name of team leader or team contact person
- E-mail address of team leader or contact person
- Postal address of the team, team leader or contact person
- Competition category: Humanoid Soccer Competition KidSize or AdultSize
Please note that teams applying for participation in several classes must submit individual application material for each class and pay the appropriate registration fee for each class. At least one team member must register on each team. Furthermore, teams in different classes must be able to compete and have referees available independently and at the same time.
2. Humanoid Soccer Competition
You do not need to provide a full robot team to apply for competing in the Humanoid Soccer Competition. The qualifying round of Drop-In games will be played with only one robot per team. Teams that cannot provide a full team of robots (four robots in KidSize and two in AdultSize) will be merged after the Drop-In games for the main tournament games.
In case of a sufficient number of qualified teams, the sub-leagues (KidSize and/or AdultSize) will be divided into League A and League B. All teams are seeded into the leagues based on the results of an initial round of Drop-In games.
Each application to the Humanoid Soccer Competition will be reviewed by two members of the Technical Committee and two others teams applying to the Humanoid Soccer Competition. The combined reviewing score will decide whether a team qualifies for participation. If a team that applied for participation in the Humanoid Soccer Competition fails to qualify, the Technical Committee may allow the team to participate in the Humanoid Open Competition. In this case, the team will be informed and can then decide whether they would like to participate in the Humanoid Open Competition or withdraw.
Reviewing other team’s material is considered obligatory for teams applying to participate in the Humanoid Soccer Competition and failure to provide an adequate review in a timely manner will have consequences for the teams own qualification status.
2.1 Robot Video
The first part of the qualification material is a video of your robot demonstrating your team’s autonomous soccer playing skills.
The recommended standard for qualification is:
- localization of unknown ball position,
- walking ability towards the ball,
- robot positioning at the ball for kicking,
- kicking the ball towards the goal,
- ability of getting up autonomously from a fall (KidSize only)
However, more complex and intelligent behavior of teams of robots demonstrating localization and team play are preferred, particularly recordings from actual soccer matches. If possible, please provide footage that demonstrates the robot behavior without wires attached.
The qualification video must be supplied as a link to it via youtube. The maximum duration of the video is 5 minutes. The qualifying team is responsible to ensure that the video adheres to YouTube’s TOS (especially in regards to music copyright) to prevent the video from being blocked for the reviewers. Videos not viewable by the reviewers may lead to a team not being qualified.
No video means no qualification!
2.2 Software Description
During the registration process, a form will be provided to submit details about the algorithms used or anticipated to be used for the participation in the 2020 competition. Algorithms shall be described in such detail that they can be reproduced by other teams. If software from other teams or standard algorithms are used, references need to be included. If the algorithm has been adapted to be used in the competition, those deviations need to be described in appropriate detail.
The form will include questions in the following areas:
- Walking
- Vision
- Localization
- Team Communication
- Behavior
- Contributions to the RoboCup community, e.g. software releases, paper publications, provision of league infrastructure or data sets
Responses to the questions are expected to reflect the current or anticipated status of the software during the RoboCup 2020 competition. If the software has not changed and no changes are anticipated to be made until the competition, teams may copy & paste a response from previously submitted material.
2.3. Extended Abstract
A two-page extended abstract must be submitted. For teams which have previously participated in the Humanoid League, the extended abstract needs to…
- … highlight major problems the team is trying to solve for the upcoming competition
- … outline the plans of major changes the teams anticipates to have implemented by the RoboCup 2020 competition
- … describes the status of implementation of the planned changes by the time of submitting the application
For teams which have never participated in the RoboCup Humanoid League, the Extended Abstract needs to pitch the scientific aspects of your humanoid robot system and highlight your research interests.
The Extended Abstract is limited to 2 pages maximum and must be submitted in PDF format. Extended Abstracts are designed to highlight the changes and scientific developments since the last RoboCup. Thus, we expect the usage of material from previous TDPs or Extended Abstracts to be minimal. If used, they need to be cited appropriately. Submissions of last years Extended Abstract will be desk-rejected.
The Extended Abstract must follow the LNCS format which can be downloaded from http://www.springer.com/computer/lncs?SGWID=0-164-6-793341-0. Please pay special attention to the “Author guidelines” that you’ll be able to find there. Teams that do to follow the LNCS formatting and style guidelines will not be qualified. No exceptions to this rule will be made.
3. Plagiarism
Plagiarism, loosely the unattributed use of other peoples’ words, code, and ideas is not tolerated in the RoboCup community. See plagiarism_FAQ.html for a more detailed description. The teams and team members that plagiarize other peoples’ work and present it as their own will be disqualified. For a first offense, the team and team members will be banned from RoboCup competition for two years (usually the current and next year). Harsher penalties will be applied to repeat offenders or extremely serious cases of plagiarism. A team may be disqualified at any time for plagiarism, even after the competition has started. RoboCup will not reimburse teams for any expenses related to their disqualification.
4. Letter of commitment
Regardless of the specific competition, a one-page letter addressed to the RoboCup Humanoid League Technical Committee including the following:
- a statement committing to participate in the RoboCup 2020 Humanoid League competition,
- a statement committing to make a person with sufficient knowledge of the rules available as referee during the competition.
The letter must be printed, hand signed by the team leader, digitally scanned and submitted either as a JPG, PNG or PDF file.
The TC may include the fulfillment of the statement of commitment of participation as well as the performance of the team’s referee in previous RoboCup competitions into consideration for qualification.
5. Robot Specification
Regardless of the specific competition, a one-page specification (PDF) for each different type of humanoid robot used by the team that includes the following:
- Robot picture
- Robot name
- Height of the robot
- Weight of the robot
- Walking speed in cm/s
- Number of degrees of freedom and type of motors on each kinematic chain of the robot
- Type of sensors used (incl. type of camera(s))
- Computing unit(s)
- Other specs
6. Online Submission
All qualification material must be submitted online at
http://submission.robocuphumanoid.org/
The submission system will open November 18th, 2019.
7. Deadline
Submission system open: November 18th, 2019 November 22nd, 2019
Deadline for submission: December 2nd, 2019
Announcement of qualified teams: January 20th, 2020
8. Publication
Please note that after the announcement of the qualified teams the qualification material of the qualified teams will be made publicly available. Teams applying for participation therefore grant the right of publication of their qualification material to the humanoid league.
9. Rules
The Technical Committee has already implemented some changes as stated in the roadmap which now provides a new basis for the rule book: http://humanoid.robocup.org/wp-content/uploads/RCHL-2020-Rules.pdf
This version already implements the following changes:
- TeenSize has been merged into Kid- and AdultSize (see new size restrictions for KidSize and AdultSize)
- The structure of the tournament changed (Lines 1381-1403)
- Competition starts with Drop-Ins
- Result of the Drop-In competition are used to seed the Regular tournament
- Strikers and goalkeepers cannot be placed manually anymore
- Usage of the Referee Box is mandatory
However, there are more rule changes planned for RoboCup 2020. It is possible to discuss them on the forum. They include:
- Layout of the field
- Update of Technical Challenges
- Restrictions on communications by the robot
The final rule book will be published in January 2020.
10. Visa Process
If you are a citizen of a country that needs a Visa for traveling to France, please start the Visa process as soon as you receive your notification of qualification. If you are not sure if your eligible for a Visa-exempt, please consult the official website of the French government for information.
11. RoboCup fee waiver for new teams
The RoboCup Federation is pleased to introduce a waiver of the team fee for the 2020 international RoboCup competition for NEW teams in the major leagues. A NEW team is defined as a team all of whose team members have never participated in an annual international RoboCup competition. The waiver concerns only the team fee and does not imply any waiver of fees for team members.
12. Special Offer: NimbRo-OP2
The University of Bonn offers structural parts for the 135cm tall NimbRo-OP2X to RoboCup 2019 AdultSize teams. The set includes:
- All 3D-printed shell parts and gears from an industrial SLS printer in PA-12 nylon,
- complete set of screws to mount the actuators,
- dry-rubbing hip, shoulder and neck bearings.
Please note that this does not include the X-540 Dynamixel actuators, electronics, onboard computer, cameras, lenses, batteries, and cables. Basic instructions on wiring and assembly will be provided.
Price: 20.000 EURO plus tax and shipping. Teams interested in this offer should contact the AIS group at nimbro-soccer@ais.uni-bonn.de
Information on the NimbRo-OP2X robot is available www.nimbro.net/OP.
This special offer is valid for an order made until April 30, 2020.
13. Special Offer: Sigmaban+ Robot
This special offer is valid for an order made until January 31st, 2020.
With best regards,
Technical Committee of RoboCup Humanoid League 2020