[robocup-humanoid] Rule Changes: Field of View

[Muecke, Karl]

Quoting:

"7a)The field of view of the robots will be limited to 180 degrees. This
means that the maximum angle between any two points in the overlap of
the
field of views of all cameras mounted on the robot must be less than 180
degrees.

Omnivision cameras can be modified to satisfy 7a) by covering 180
degrees of
the field of view of the camera with for example a black tape.

This is to encourage development of vision strategies wherein the robot
control its body parts to actively seek for object of interest and to
develop short term and long term memory strategies to reconstruct a
global
view of the field of play."

It seems to me that this rule change is still a bit ambiguous.
According to how the rule is currently stated, it seems that you could
have a camera (or multitude of cameras) that has an equivalent field of
view as a hemisphere.   I will give two examples: 
1. If you have a robot standing facing the goal, it seems fair that the
robot is able to see 90 degrees to its left and right, as well as 90
degrees up and down.  This example does not violate the 180 degree rule
it seems.
2. Take the same robot from example 1, and point the camera (or camera
array) straight at the ground (imagine that the robot's body is
transparent for this example).  You still have a hemisphere, but can see
the entire field.  The field of view stops only at the horizon, which
corresponds to the height of the robot.

The second example can be extrapolated to say that no matter what angle
you limit the field of view, you can still see 360 degrees around your
body if you look at the ground.  I say this because in the case of the
Omnivision cameras, they are essentially a camera looking straight down
at the ground.  The field of view would only have to be limited to the
horizon, and the robot can still see the entire field.

I would like to propose two possible solutions to this if everyone
agrees that there still seems to be a fundamental problem in
"encouraging the development of vision strategies" with the current rule
revision.

Solution 1: Change the rule to read: When the robot is standing or
walking, no single camera or combination of cameras can ever see more
than 180 degrees of the field.  The 180 degrees is defined by the
maximum angle between any two vectors defined by any two points any
camera can see and the center point of the robot when viewed overhead.

Solution 2: With overall long term goal of RoboCup being "creating a
team of humanoid robots that can defeat the WorldCup champions," we
should accept and embrace the idea that some aspects of a robot can be
superior to humans.  If the only superiority we want to embrace is the
lightening fast processing and artificial intelligence, I think we are
missing the mark.  I believe this organization is supposed to advance
many robotic technologies, which includes sensors, actuators, etc.
Therefore, allowing omnivision or multiple cameras may be a good idea.
Instead perhaps we should concentrate on making the robots "appear" more
human and making the playing conditions closer to the actual playing
conditions.
With that being said, my second solution can be summarized by saying:
Allow the different camera sensors, but make the robot appearance rules
more strict, and make the field more life-like--don't have the goals
colored.  Let the goals be like a real soccer goal (white with white
netting) and let the robots use localization and more advanced
algorithms to keep track of where they are and where they are going.  If
the goalies have a distinct color, their location could be used to
determine what direction your team is supposed to attack--the lines just
let you know where you are on the field.

Regards,
Karl Muecke
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA
kmuecke at vt.edu