[robocup-humanoid] V-HSC Newsletter 2

[Ludovic Hofer]

Dear Humanoid Teams,

This is the second Humanoid league newsletter.
It will presents the following topics:

- Second release from Cyberbotics
- Second Call for Participation
- Hiring of student assistant
- Rules update (postponed)
- Upcoming changes


# Second release from Cyberbotics
==================================
The second version of the simulator for the competition has been made
available by Cyberbotics:
<https://hl.forum.robocup.org/t/first-webots-package-for-the-virtual-hsc/481/8>

It features the following elements:

- A change of the surrounding to make detection of the field limits easier.
- A more realistic physical simulation of the physics of the artificial
turf.
- A calibration of the physics of the ball.
- New components for PROTO files allowing to model backlash
- A modified version the Darwin-OP to speed-up the simulation

If you have already been able to experiment your robot behaviors on the
field, make sure to test them again on this new environment and to
provide us with as much feedback as possible.

The implementation of the API for communication between the simulator
and the robots software is currently being tested and is likely to be
released pretty soon. Note that implementation of the compression of
images will not be part of the first version of the API.

# Second Call for Participation
===============================

The call for participation has been updated on the website to include
latest changes:
<https://humanoid.robocup.org/hl-2021/call-for-participation/>

The submission system should be opened soon and the deadline for
submissions is **April 12th**, you will then be given until **April
23rd** to upload an initial version of your robot model.

# Hiring of student assistant
=============================

We are still looking for a student assistant to help the Technical
Committee with the updates to the GameController and setting up test
cases for the AutoReferee.

In case you or one of your student is interested, you will find more
details on the league website:
<https://cdn.robocup.org/hl/wp/2021/02/Student-Assistant-for-RoboCup-HL-Simulator-Development.pdf>

# Rules update (postponed)
==========================

The schedule for rules update has been changed as follows:

- April 2nd: 3rd draft of the rule book released
- April 16th: Final version of the rule book released

The main topics for the 3rd draft are:

- Forceful contact:
<https://hl.forum.robocup.org/t/discussion-forceful-contact-and-direct-free-kicks-for-virtual-competition/468>
- Dropped ball: <https://hl.forum.robocup.org/t/v-hsc-dropped-ball/485>
- Ball handling: <https://hl.forum.robocup.org/t/v-hsc-ball-handling/486>

Do not hesitate to contribute before the 3rd draft is out, this will
help to make sure that only minor adjustements are required for the
final version.

# Upcoming changes
==================

The following elements are expected to be released on March 29th:

- 2nd draft of the specifications for the robot model
- 2nd draft of the API specifications
- 1st draft of the specifications for the server infrastructure

We welcome all your questions and comments on the league forum and the
Discord channel.

Cheers,

Ludovic (for the Humanoid League Organizing Committee)


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