[robocup-small] SSL Rule Changes for RoboCup 2010

Stefan Zickler szickler at cs.cmu.edu
Thu Oct 1 14:12:04 EDT 2009


Hi All,

after discussions, the SSL committees have finalized the major rule
changes for RoboCup 2010.

1) The number of robots and the field size will stay the same as it
was for RoboCup 2009.

2) Use of the SSL-Vision shared vision system will be mandatory.

3) At RoboCup 2010, a shared vision system (cameras and vision server)
will be provided for each SSL field. The SSL-committees are still
discussing whether the shared cameras will be supplied by the RoboCup
Federation or whether we will have some of the participating teams
bring and share their cameras for this purpose. The latter is very
likely, but should not be too difficult as many teams already own the
necessary cameras. The shared vision computers will be provided, just
like the referee computers have been provided in the past. For other
local competitions, the rules will allow the respective competition
organizers to decide who provides the shared vision equipment.

4) At RoboCup 2010, teams must use the shared vision equipment. Teams
are no longer allowed to mount their own overhead vision equipment.
This should allow for a much more flexible organization schedule of
the tournament, as setup-times will be decreased and field-blockages
due to the dreaded "ladder-on-the-field" should be minimized. Again,
for other local competitions, the rules will allow the respective
organizers to decide whether to let teams mount their own cameras.

5) All teams will be required to make their robots compliant with the
operating requirements of the shared vision system. The details of
these requirements, such as the use of a standard pattern and standard
colors still have to be determined by the TC (we will request feedback
from the SSL-community about these details in the near future). The
final requirements will be announced well ahead of RoboCup 2010.

6) To maintain active research in computer vision, SSL-Vision will be
open for development through the community. The TC is currently
working on an annual SSL-Vision development and evaluation cycle, that
will allow new algorithms and other improvements to be proposed,
evaluated, and integrated into SSL-Vision. This cycle will have an
annual "code freeze" date where the final selection of algorithms and
network packet-format for the upcoming RoboCup will be announced. The
details on this development schedule and its implementation are still
being discussed by the TC, and will be announced in the near future.

7) Finally, the TC is considering a major structural rewrite of the
current rules. Many of us agree that the current rules are not
particularly well organized and could be much more clear. Whether this
restructuring will be finished for RoboCup 2010 is not fully
determined yet, but it should mostly affect structure, not the actual
meaning of the rules.

At this point I would also like to open community discussions about
minor rule changes. If you have any ideas or proposals for the
Small-Size League, now is the time to let everybody know. We will keep
these discussions open until November 1st, after which the TC will
decide on the final rules, tentatively to be finalized by December 1st
2009.

Best Regards,
Stefan (on behalf of SSL-TC)


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