[robocup-small] RoboCup 2019: Updates and Announcements (October 2018)

[Christian Lobmeier]

Hey everyone,

yes, it's that time of year again. We, the members of the TC and OC have a
lot to announce for the upcoming RoboCup in Sydney.

First up, we've decided that we will adapt the so-called tick-tock model
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tick%E2%80%93tock_model> in the SSL. This
means that there will be significant changes every second year, followed up
by quality-of-life improvements the year after. Since 2018 has been a year
with a ton of changes (especially for division A), 2019 will be a lot more
tame.

That said, what can you expect from this season?

1. There is a Discord server for the SSL. Some of you are already using it,
but for those who missed it or forgot about it, here is the link:
https://discord.gg/t724m8c. This Discord server is a communication platform
for everyone in the SSL. If you want to ask other teams or committee
members about anything, Discord might be the way to go.

2. There is a brand new website that replaces our beloved wiki. All the
information for RoboCup 2019 is at or linked at https://ssl.robocup.org for
you to access. Over the coming months, we will be migrating the historical
content from the wiki before it is decommissioned later this year. We're
interested in hearing how the website can better serve each of your teams,
so reach out via email or Discord with suggestions or problems. All other
leagues of the RoboCup will also migrate to the new website.

3. The rules of the SSL have been rewritten. The new rules can be found as
HTML and PDF on https://ssl.robocup.org/rules/ or directly at Github:
https://github.com/RoboCup-SSL/ssl-rules. Apart from restructuring the
rules and making them more clear and comprehensible, there are also some
differences to the 2018 version. I'll explain the rationale behind these
changes in a second mail today.

4. The new Game Controller has been implemented. It is a replacement for
the RefBox while also serving as a standardized front-end for automatic
referee implementations. This means that the game controller operator
(formerly RefBox operator) now only needs a single application. You can
find the game controller on Github:
https://github.com/RoboCup-SSL/ssl-game-controller. The two AutoRef
implementations of Tigers and ER-Force are not yet updated to work with the
new interface, but you can already use the game controller instead of the
old RefBox. We highly encourage everyone to test their system with the new
game controller. There is also a new team-protocol that teams can
optionally implement. Please report any feedback and bugs back to us.

5. There will be a completely new camera setup revolving around USB
cameras. The idea is to have mini PCs 6 meters above the field (2 for
division A, 1 for division B) equipped with a high resolution USB camera
each. We are still discussing the financial and technical details.

Best,
Christian
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