[robocup-humanoid] Regarding the official rules for 2011

[Daniel Seifert]

Dear TC members,

there are only 6 weeks left until RoboCup 2011 and we would like to
ask for some information about the current situation of the rules.

As there is not even a draft yet, the local events in 2011 took place
using last year's rules (e.g. German Open 2011, Iran Open 2011 and
presumably others) and couldn't be used as a test for the world cup.
In fact the most-current information about the (potential) new rules
is an email on the mailing list dated early November 2010. This email
outlines a couple of changes that require significant modifications in
the robots' software.

We don't know how many teams have pre-emptively prepared for all these
possible changes (e.g. a white ball), but we would not be surprised if
there are only a few (if any at all) and especially if the new teams
in our league may not even be aware of these considerations.

Because of the little remaining time, we are worried that now it may
be too late to introduce significant rule changes as many teams would
not be able to adjust in time. There are surely good reasons that the
release has been delayed from end of 2010 or middle of March (the two
implied release dates on the mailing list) and we are aware how hard a
task it is to create and maintain this important document. However the
time to publish the official rules is now long overdue.

We feel it is vital that the rules are published rather today than
tomorrow. Could we kindly ask the TC about their plans regarding the
release?

Following up on this issue, we would like to suggest that for the next
year the rules are released at least 6 months before RoboCup. Ideally
they - after having been voted on in Istanbul - are put up for
discussion not later than beginning of September, followed by a draft
at the end of October. The final rules should be out well before end
of the year. If the rules contain significant changes in hardware,
this should be finalized even earlier in order to give teams
sufficient time to adjust their robots.

Releasing the rules well in advance of RoboCup would allow all teams
to adjust to the new rules in their own time and well before they
write their TDP, assemble their qualification material, build the
robots, develop the software and pay the participation fees, flights
and hotel :-)

Best regards,

Daniel Seifert
FUmanoids


--
dseifert at fumanoids.de
Phone +49 30 838 75 125

Freie Universität Berlin
Institut für Informatik
AG Künstliche Intelligenz
Arnimallee 7
14195 Berlin
Germany