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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Dear Small Size League fellows, greetings !<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>We, the RoboCup 2012 Committee members, are very enthusiastic and full of ideas for our league, and we would like to share with all of you. To begin with, we reaffirm our commitment to the community: we are your representatives, and we are bound to act as such. We want to listen to the community. To discuss, think, collaborate, build together. We want to help evolve our league, so when we see the 2050 match happening, we can say "We built a tiny piece of that, we were part of it."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The committees met in Istanbul, and again couple weeks ago. From the brainstorm came up lessons learned from past competitions, ideas about new forms of collaboration and research, rule improvements, and even a logo ! In the coming lines, we very briefly describe the key points. We invite you all to think about them, and be ready for the discussions when we send details of each of these ideas, very soon.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>We defined a top priority, to guide all our actions. And we believe that it can only be achieved if all of us in the community work together. Our top priority is to <b>Make the game more Intelligent.</b><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>This means we need to focus on actions that will make the league to be THE best test bench on RoboCup. Winning is nice, but should not be the reason we work so hard.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The starting step is to know the teams, so we kindly ask every team, regardless of the participation in the past competition, to fill a brief survey. The Link will be sent in the next days.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>After the collection of the survey results, the next step is to have both a roadmap for the next three years and the major rule changes discussed with everybody. We drafted some ideas, and would like not only hear your feedback about them, but also hear other proposals. Again, we want a more intelligent game, that's our driving force.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The ideas we drafted are: <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>* <b>Mixed team collaboration</b>:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>We believe having more focus on mixed teams will allow us to have games with more robots and opens room for a new line of research.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>* <b>Development of new software and improvement of existing:</b><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>- Perhaps creating a prize for those who help to improve League's infrastructure. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>- We want to document SSL and to incentive the development of plug-ins that can make it better. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>- We want to get the so expected autonomous referee (and we got a great candidate app from a member of the B-Smart team!). <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>- Have standard simulators, and more. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>- We intend to foster collaboration, we will need developers for all this. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>* <b>Help new and existing teams to quickly evolve:</b><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>Helping teams on topics that other teams already succeeded. One example is to request electronic and mechanical drawings of all the existing robots, all teams.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>* <b>Rule Changes: <o:p></o:p></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b> </b>The idea behind these changes is to help increase dynamic play and make the game more interesting and thus a better platform for research. The following are rules we are considering to implement, and will need your feedback to determine which of them can be added.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>- Decrease the maximum ball speed. We believe the game will not become boring, but rather much more dynamic, as more passing will be necessary. The new maximum speed needs to be defined, though<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>- Increase the number of robots to 6 in 2012.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>- Increase the size of the field a little, pending technical feasibility.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>- Increase the defense area size. Our area is currently very small, favoring the positioning of defensive robots permanently in front of the goalie, and these robots are more like goal keepers than line players. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b>* Create a Vision Statement:<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>To guide the Organizing Committee work in the next few years towards a goal that you all agree on, we also hope to create a vision statement that best reflects what the League values are. What is our main focus of research? Why are we building robots? Are we trying to be the best at anything? In the survey we will send you, Question 9 is to reflect these values. However, this topic is not limited to one question in the survey. Feel free to send your views on this matter to the OC.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>We hope to have everybody’s collaboration, and expect your ideas and comments.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Best Regards,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The SSL Executive, Technical and Organizing committees for RoboCup Mexico 2012.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>