[robocup-nao] Call for Participation - RoboCup SPL

Fri Oct 30 11:53:45 EDT 2015

Call for Applications for Participation

RoboCup 2016 Standard Platform League
www.tzi.de/spl
Leipzig, Germany
Tuesday 28th June through Monday 4th July 2016
http://www.robocup2016.org

RoboCup is an international initiative that fosters research and education
in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence through a variety of competitions
(RoboCupSoccer, RoboCupRescue, RoboCup at Home, RoboCupJunior) involving
mostly multi-robot systems. RoboCup currently includes a number of
different robot soccer leagues that focus on different research challenges.

The Standard Platform League (SPL) is characterized by the use of an
identical robot platform by all the teams. Participating researchers focus
on algorithmic development for fully autonomous robots, i.e., robots that
operate with no external control. The SPL at RoboCup 2016 will use any H21
or H25 version of the NAO humanoid robot manufactured by Aldebaran
Robotics. The SPL robot soccer games at RoboCup 2016 will be played between
teams of five robots on a 6m x 9m field.

The RoboCup 2016 SPL will host three competitions: a team competition, a
drop-in player competition, and 2 technical challenges.

The RoboCup 2016 SPL team competition will be able to host 24 teams. 8 of
these 24 teams will compete in an outdoor competition (featuring natural
lighting and more realistic carpet) for the first round robin while the
other 16 teams will compete indoor for the first round robin. All 8 teams
from the outdoor competition will proceed to the second round robin of the
team competition, while only 8 of the 16 teams from the indoor first round
will advance to the second round robin of the team competition. The second
round as well as subsequent rounds will be played indoors with
semi-controlled lighting and normal carpet. The 24 teams participating in
the team competition must also compete in the drop-in player competition
and/or the technical challenges.

At most 8 additional teams, who do not compete in the team competition,
will be selected to compete in the drop-in player competition and the
technical challenges.

Teams for all three competitions will be selected from the interested
parties responding to this call
<http://www.tzi.de/spl/bin/view/Website/Call2016> by *December 1st, 2015*.

The full rules of RoboCup 2015 SPL
<http://www.tzi.de/spl/bin/view/Website/MajorRule2015> as well as documents
outlining the technical challenges
<http://www.tzi.de/spl/pub/Website/Downloads/Challenges2016.pdf> and major
rules changes <http://www.tzi.de/spl/bin/view/Website/MajorRule2016> for
RoboCup 2016 SPL (which will be incorporated into the RoboCup 2016 SPL
rulebook in a more detailed form) are posted on the SPL website
<http://www.tzi.de/spl/>.

Qualification
-------------

All interested teams must submit an original qualification document. In
order for the qualification document to be considered, it must (1) be no
longer than 5 pages and (2) include all of the following information in
sections with the specified headings:

*Team Information*: the team name, the team leader(s), the team
constitution (eg. 5 undergraduate students, 3 masters students, 1
professor), and the university/company affiliation(s) of the team
Robot Information: the number of each type of NAO owned by the team (eg,
intend to buy 6 H25 NAO v4s or currently have 5 H21 V3.3, etc)

*Preference*: preference of the team to compete in team competition
(specify preference for indoor or outdoor), drop-in player competition and
technical challenges (do not list anything you are unwilling to compete in,
order your preferences, listing a preference of (1) indoor team
competition, (2) drop-in player competition would mean the team prefers the
indoor team competition over the drop-in player competition and is
unwilling to participate in the technical challenges or the outdoor team
competition). Teams are expected to participate in at least two of the
three competitions.

*Code Usage*: acknowledge the team's use of any other team's code (1)
previously from 2013 to present and (2) currently. Address how you
anticipate the team's use of any other team's code will change by RoboCup
2016 competition, if at all. If the team does not use any other team's
code, state so.

*Past History*: provide game results in RoboCup Open competitions as well
as main RoboCup competitions from 2013 onward. Include opponents and game
scores from each competition in a table. State if the team plans to
participate in any RoboCup Open competitions prior to RoboCup 2016.

*Impact*: what is the impact of the team's participation and research in
RoboCup on (1) the SPL, (2) the team's university/community

*Other*: present any other information that you believe supports your
application

Note that submitting an application serves as a statement of commitment to
participate in the RoboCup 2016 SPL. If you have doubts regarding the
ability of your team to participate (due to funding, visas, ect), please
note this in the 'Other' section of your application. Declining to
participate in any competition after the official early registration period
has opened may negatively affect future applications (the later you
decline, the worse it will affect future applications).

The written material must be complemented by a link to a video (maximum 5
min long, uploaded on the team's web site or on some video server) that
demonstrates the current status of the team. The video is used by the TC to
determine the readiness of the team to compete effectively, and hence
should focus on the team’s ability to play soccer. Teams who did not
participate in the team competition at RoboCup 2015 must include footage of
at least one robot attempting to kick off and score (this footage must be
captured as a single wide shot with no cuts). In cases where footage from
multiple teams is shown (such as game footage), please include a textual
overlay denoting which team is the applying team. Videos of simulation
contributions will also be accepted, but only when real robots are
unavailable. Preference will be given to teams that use real robots to show
soccer skills in their video.

The technical committee may also request a live demo via Skype or a similar
video chat service between the dates of December 11 and December 15. Teams
will be notified by December 9 if the technical committee wishes to see
such a demo. A team would be expected to show one or more robots executing
a kick-off and then attempting to score. If providing a live demo between
December 11 and December 15 would be problematic, please note this in your
email when you submit your application and provide earlier dates which
would be feasible.

Pre-Qualification
-------------

Teams that satisfied the pre-qualification guidelines as set forth in the
RoboCup 2015 rulebook will be pre-qualified for RoboCup 2016, if they
submit the following original qualification document. Teams able to
pre-qualify include: Berlin United - Nao Team Humboldt (BU-NaoTH), B-Human,
Cerberus, Nao Devils Dortmund, NTU RoboPAL, UNSW Australia, and WrightOcean
.

The original qualification document must include:

1. the team name
2. the leader(s), the constitution (eg. 5 undergraduate students, 3 masters
students, 1 professor), and the university/company affiliation(s) of the
team
3. the number of each type of NAO owned by the team (eg, intend to buy 6
H25 NAO v4s or currently have 5 H21 V3.3, etc)
4. preference of the team to compete in team competition (specify
preference for indoor or outdoor), drop-in player competition and technical
challenges (do not list anything you are unwilling to compete in, order
your preferences, listing a preference of (1) indoor team competition, (2)
drop-in player competition would mean the team prefers the indoor team
competition over the drop-in player competition and is unwilling to
participate in the technical challenges or the outdoor team competition).
Teams are expected to participate in at least two of the three competitions.
5. a link to a team research report describing their work for RoboCup 2015
(must be posted in a publicly available location)

For teams who reached the quarter-finals in the team competition, this team
research report must include a link to publicly release code as detailed in
the 2015 SPL rulebook

If a joint 2015 team splits, only one team can be pre-qualified for 2016
(please, indicate which one).

Submission and Evaluation
-------------

All applications with the (pre-)qualification material must be
submitted by *December
1st, 2015*, by email to rc-spl-tc at lists.robocup.org. Applications must not
be sent to personal SPL TC/OC email addresses and must not contain video
attachments.

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

Qualification decisions will be announced by December 16, 2015.

Robot Acquisition
-------------

Aldebaran Robotics will have a special pricing package for teams who
qualify for the RoboCup 2015 SPL Competition. The details of this special
pricing package are still in the works - information will be posted online
<http://www.tzi.de/spl/bin/view/Website/Call2016> once it is available. A
list of qualified teams will be sent to Aldebaran by the SPL Technical
Committee after the qualification decisions have been announced, so teams
may contact Aldebaran after that date to order robots if they choose.

Orders will have to be placed to Aldebaran before April 1st, 2016 to
benefit from discounted prices.

Team Competition Qualified Teams
-------------

Aldebaran will likely agree to deliver up to 6 RoboCup NAO (either new
robots or replacement robots) per SPL Team Competition Qualified Team at a
negotiated price. Above this limit of 6 robots, any additional robots can
be purchased at the regular list price applicable at the time of purchase.

Drop-In and Technical Challenge Qualified Teams
-------------

Aldebaran will likely agree to deliver up to 2 RoboCup NAO (either new
robots or replacement robots) per SPL Drop-In and Technical Challenge
Qualified Team at a negotiated price. Above this limit of 2 robots, any
additional robots can be purchased at the regular list price applicable at
the time of purchase.

Best regards,
- The RoboCup 2016 Standard Platform League Technical and Organizing
Committees
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