[robocup-nao] Call for Apllication - Standard Platform League

[patrick.goettsch at tuhh.de]

Call for Applications for Participation

RoboCup 2018 Standard Platform League

 <http://spl.robocup.org/> spl.robocup.org

Saturday 16th June through Friday 22nd June 2018 (Montréal, Canada)

 <http://www.robocup2018.com> http://www.robocup2018.com

 <http://www.robocup.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 using 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 2018 will use V5 (Maybe also V6, but
currently no more informations from SoftBanks are available and no decision
was made) or older versions of the NAO humanoid robot manufactured by
<https://www.ald.softbankrobotics.com/en>  SoftBank Robotics. The SPL robot
soccer team competition games at RoboCup 2018 will be played indoor and
outdoor between teams of five robots on a 6m x 9m playing surface. Teams
should be able to play on a randomly assigned indoor or outdoor field within
one hour.

The RoboCup 2018 SPL will host both a team competition and a mixed teams
competition.

The team competition will consist of more games for most teams than in
recent years. We expect to qualify 24 teams. The structure from 2017 will be
used and extended in the team competition to allow all teams to play more
games and against teams with similar skill levels. See Appendix A.3 of the
<https://depot.tu-dortmund.de/gav3g> preliminary rulebook for more details.

Teams applying for the team competition may also apply for the mixed team
competition. Each mixed team will consist of two teams. Mixed teams will
play 6v6 games on the normal SPL field. Only 4 or 6 mixed teams will be
selected to compete at RoboCup 2018. Teams, who participated in 2017, are
encouraged to select another partner then in 2017. See Appendix B of the
<https://depot.tu-dortmund.de/gav3g> preliminary rulebook for more details.

Qualification

All interested teams must submit an original qualification document. For the
qualification document to be considered, it must (1) be no longer than 6
pages and (2) include all the following information in sections with the
specified headings:

1.    Team Information: the team name, the team leader(s), and the
university/company affiliation(s) of the team

2.    Mixed Teams: If the team is interested in participating in the mixed
teams competition, indicate the name of the partner team, the proposed mixed
team name, and the proposed mixed team jersey colour. Include a short note
about infrastructure plans as well as why this team and the proposed partner
wish to perform as a mixed team.

3.    Code Usage: acknowledge the team’s use of any other team’s code (1)
previously from 2015 to present and (2) anticipated at RoboCup 2018. If code
is used from other teams, is this code integrated into a code base that is
mainly designed by the applying team? If not, describe in detail the
‘research publishable’ significant advancements to a module the applying
team has made to the other team’s code release and what advancements the
team is currently pursuing. A module is a larger part of the code base, that
has to be changed significantly. Changing or implementing a behaviour is not
a significant change. If the applying team does not use any other team’s
code, state so.

4.    Past History: provide game results in RoboCup Open competitions as
well as main RoboCup competitions from 2016 onward. Include opponents and
game scores from each competition in a table. State if the team plans to
participate in any RoboCup Open competitions or friendlies prior to RoboCup
2018.

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

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

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 status of the team. The TC uses the video 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 2017 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 a real robot is unavailable. Preference will be
given to teams that use real robots to show soccer skills in their video.

Pre-Qualification

Teams that satisfied the pre-qualification guidelines as set forth in the
RoboCup 2017 rulebook will be pre-qualified for RoboCup 2018, if they submit
the following original qualification document. Teams able to pre-qualify
include: B-Human, Nao-Team HTWK, Nao Devils, UT Austin Villa, TJ Ark, UNSW
Sydney, MRL-SPL, HULKs, Berlin United, Camelia Dragons

The original qualification document must include:

1.    Team Information: the team name, leader(s), and the university/company
affiliation(s) of the team

2.    Mixed Teams: If the team is interested in participating in the mixed
teams competition, indicate the name of the partner team, the proposed mixed
team name, and the proposed mixed team jersey color. Include a short note
about infrastructure plans as well as why this team and the proposed partner
wish to perform as a mixed team.

3.    Code Usage: acknowledge the team’s use of any other team’s code (1)
previously from 2015 to present and (2) anticipated at RoboCup 2018. If code
is used from other teams, is this code integrated into a code base that is
mainly designed by the applying team? If not, describe in detail the
‘research publishable’ significant advancements to a module the applying
team has made to the other team’s code release and what advancements the
team is currently pursuing. A module is a larger part of the code base, that
has to be changed significantly. Changing or implementing a behaviour is not
a significant change. If the applying team does not use any other team’s
code, state so.

4.    TRR: A link to a team research report describing their work for
RoboCup 2017 (must be posted in a publicly available location)

5.    Code Release: A link to a publicly release code as detailed in the
2017 SPL rulebook

 

If a joint 2017 team splits, only one team can be pre-qualified for 2018
(please, indicate which one).

Qualification for Regional Opens Only

Teams may also submit a short intent to participate in a regional open if
they do not wish to participate in the 2018 RoboCup Montréal competition.
Although teams may participate in regional opens without submitting this
intent to participate, teams who submit an intent to participate and become
qualified will be eligible for special robot pricing as a 2018 RoboCup Event
qualified team.

Teams must submit the following information by 31 January 2018: (1) The team
name, leader(s), and the university/company affiliation(s) of the team and
(2) a short statement describing the status/progress of the team. A link to
a short video showing robot soccer behaviours and/or game play (using robots
or in simulation) may be included if available.

Submission and Evaluation

All applications with the (pre-)qualification material must be submitted by
31st of January 2018, 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.

Note that applying serves as a statement of commitment to participate in the
RoboCup 2018 SPL. If you have doubts regarding the ability of your team to
participate (due to funding, visas, etc.), please apply by the deadline but
note this in 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).

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

Applications will be evaluated to consider a variety of components
including:

1.    Potential to play competitive games at RoboCup 2018 (demonstrated
ability to play soccer, previous results, etc.)

2.    Contributions (and potential contributions) to league (code
releases/papers, active in organization, developing own code, etc.)

3.    Diversity (region, team make-up, unique characteristics, etc.)

When choosing teams and team pairings for the mixed teams competition, we
will pick teams and team pairings that we hope will make the competition
high-quality, competitive, and interesting.

Qualification decisions, including alternate lists, will be announced by 20
February 2018. We expect to qualify 24 teams for RoboCup 2018 in Montréal as
well as up to 8 teams for Regional Opens only.

Robot Acquisition

We are still in contact with  <https://www.ald.softbankrobotics.com/en>
SoftBank Robotics, but did not agree on a contract at the moment. As soon as
this changes we will inform you.

 

RoboCup 2018 Standard Platform League Technical and Organizing Committees

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://mailman.cc.gatech.edu/pipermail/robocup-nao/attachments/20171220/74e1cdad/attachment-0001.html>