[robocup-legged] Thinking about the future of our league ...

[Javier Ruiz-del-Solar]

Dear 4L-Roboccupers:
Dear 4L-Technical Committee:

In a recent message Walter Nistico said us that a lot of discussion has 
been going on in the Technical Committee concerning the direction that 
the league should take for the upcoming competitions, and that some 
people advocates the need to show that our league is on the cutting 
edge of scientific innovation to send a strong signal to the RoboCup 
Committee, which might otherwise decide to discontinue the league 
altogether.

I would like to refer to a very related issue that is which kind of 
competitions we will have in our league after 2007. As long as I 
remember, in the last RoboCup 2006 team leaders' meeting it was decided 
to use AIBO robots at the RoboCup 2007 (July 2007), and during RobCup 
2007 to decide what to do for 2008. I believe that a decision for 2008 
should be taken before July 2007.

Some important points to consider:

1. In our league there are between 30 and 40 teams, each of them using 
4 or more robots. That means that for selecting a new robot platform we 
should find a company/institution that can provide in a short period of 
time at least 160 reliable robots, together with software development 
tools, and maintenance for the robots. Of course the price of the robot 
can't be very high and the robots should be legged (4-legged would be 
nice). Does anyone know such a company?

2. Typically the qualification procedure in our league (and in all 
other leagues) is in February, each year. Considering that an average 
team will need at least 6 months for porting the current soccer 
software to the new platform, the teams will need to have the new 
robots one year in advance to the competitions in their labs. That 
means that the decision about the new platform should be taken at least 
18 months before the first time they will be used in an official 
RoboCup competition (money should be allocated and robots need to be 
bought).

Taking into account 1 and 2 I propose:

1. To start discussing about the new platform of the league as soon as 
possible, and not to wait until July 2007.
2. To discuss about the possibility of having AIBO robots also for the 
RoboCup 2008, and perhaps already some demonstrations of robot soccer 
using the new platform.

Please, let start discussing about these important topics.

Best Regards.

Javier
(Team Leader UChile1)