[robocup-humanoid] RoboCup 2017 Humanoid League - Call for Participation

Maike Paetzel 8paetzel at informatik.uni-hamburg.de
Thu Oct 27 03:08:33 EDT 2016


*Call for Participation*

RoboCup 2017 Humanoid League
http://www.robocuphumanoid.org

July 27th to July 30th, 2017 (Nagoya, Japan)
http://www.robocup2017.org/

===========================================================

The RoboCup humanoid league is inviting interested teams to apply for 
participation at the RoboCup 2017 competition in Nagoya, Japan.

The humanoid league will host competitions in three classes:

* KidSize: 40 – 90cm robot height (FIFA size 1 ball)
* TeenSize: 80 – 140cm robot height (FIFA size 3 ball; maximum weight 20kg)
* AdultSize: 130 – 180cm robot height (FIFA size 5 ball; minimum weight 
10kg)

For more detailed class definitions and more information about the 
humanoid league, please refer to the humanoid league home page at 
http://www.robocuphumanoid.org/ and join the humanoid league mailing 
list at:
https://lists.cc.gatech.edu/mailman/listinfo/robocup-humanoid

In KidSize and TeenSize, teams can apply to two different competitions:

* Team Competition – Teams qualified in this competition have to provide 
a full robot team to compete in the main tournament, starting with a 
number of round robin games. Teams qualified for the team competition 
are automatically qualified for the Drop-In competition as well and 
participation in the Drop-In competition is considered obligatory.
* Drop-In competition – Teams provide one robot which will compete in 
mixed teams with robots from other teams.

Due to restrictions on the number of teams able to participate at 
RoboCup 2017, all teams must provide the qualification material 
described below. The technical committee will evaluate the qualification 
material and select the best teams. If you apply for Kid or Teen Size 
competition, you can provide a preference for what competition you want 
to compete in. If your qualification for team competition is rejected, 
the technical committee will consider your application for the Drop-In 
competition as well.


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 class: kid or teen or adult size
* For Kid and Teen Size: Competition preference, team competition or 
drop-in competition

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 independently and at the same time.
For teams qualified in the team competition, the participation in the 
drop-in games is obligatory. However, additional teams might be 
qualified for competition in the drop-in competition only.


2.) Robot Video
------------------------------

The first part of the qualification material is a video of your robot 
demonstrating your team’s autonomous soccer playing skills.

The minimum 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 (Kid Size)

However, more complex and intelligent behavior of teams of robots 
demonstrating localization and team play are preferred, particularly 
recordings from actual soccer matches.

The qualification video must be supplied as a link to it via 
www.youtube.com. 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!


3.) Team Description Paper
------------------------------

A team description paper (TDP) must be submitted which

* fully describes the scientific aspects of your humanoid robot system 
and your research interests,
* includes a summary of previous relevant achievements in research and 
development as well as publications,
* mentions prior performance in RoboCup competitions
* points out enhancements of the robots’ hardware or software compared 
to the previous year
* states explicitly whether software from other teams is used and if 
yes, which parts are used and what the team’s own contributions are

The TDP is limited to 8 pages maximum and must be submitted in PDF 
format. Resubmitting of last year’s TDP will prevent qualification.

The TDP 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. You are expected to follow all LNCS formatting and 
style guidelines.

The quality of the TDP and the robot video will be decisive for 
qualification.

Other evaluation criteria include contributions to the RoboCup community 
by release of significant papers or software.

New teams and teams from countries that have not previously taken part 
in RoboCup competitions may be given priority.

Teams are encouraged to consider joint participation. Joint proposals 
will be judged on combined merit.

If a team applies for team competition and the application is rejected, 
the technical committee considers the application for participating in 
the drop-in competition as well. In case the team is qualified for 
drop-in competition, the team will be informed by the technical 
committee and can decide to participate in the drop-in competition only 
or withdraw from participation.

All teams qualified in the team competition are expected to participate 
in the drop-in competition as well.


4.) Letter of commitment
------------------------------

A one-page letter addressed to the RoboCup Humanoid League Technical 
Committee including the following:

* a statement committing to participate in the RoboCup 2016 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
------------------------------

A one-page specification (PDF) for each different type of humanoid robot 
used by the team that includes the followings:

* 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.) 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.


7.) Online Submission
------------------------------

All qualification material must be submitted online at
http://submission.robocuphumanoid.org/


8.) Deadline
------------------------------

Deadline for submission: December 1st, 2016

Announcement of qualified teams: January 8th, 2017


9.) 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.


10.) Rules
------------------------------

The rules of the RoboCup 2017 Humanoid League are discussed at 
https://lists.cc.gatech.edu/mailman/listinfo/robocup-humanoid and will 
be published at http://www.robocuphumanoid.org/


11.) Special Offer: ROBOTIS
------------------------------

ROBOTIS (http://www.robotis.com) is offering a special promotion to all 
teams participating in the 2017 RoboCup Humanoid Kid-size league. 
ROBOTIS will be offering a ROBOTIS OP2 for $8,000/USD per unit or 
$35,000 for 5 units. (EXWORK Korea only) 1-year basic warranty is 
included (teams should be technically ready for self-maintenance.) 
Please note that the quoted prices do not include shipping, tax, any 
local customs or handling charges. Teams interested in this offer should 
contact ROBOTIS atcontactus2 at robotis.com with the promo code (RTS2017DE).

This special offer valid for an order made until April 29, 2017.


12.) RoboCup fee waiver for new teams
------------------------------

The RoboCup Federation is pleased to introduce a waiver of the team fee 
for the 2017 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.

With kind regards,
Maike Paetzel (OC Chair)

On behalf of Technical and Organization Committees of RoboCup Humanoid 
League 2017


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