<div dir="ltr">Dear TC/OC/EC,<br><br>Thank you for the response, we are grateful that the league is being consulted on the rule changes for the next Robocup. While we agree with the high-level goals, we have significant concerns about specific changes, and the consultation with teams regarding them. <br><br>The previous email highlighted the TC/OC/EC goal to increase actual soccer game-on time during SSL games and we completely agree with that goal. Last year at Robocup, we were frustrated by games that would drag on with very little exciting action, and were stressed by the compressed playoff schedule caused by games taking too long. We are optimistic that the majority of the proposed changes will help alleviate these pain points.<br><br>That being said, we are disappointed to see that several significant changes are being introduced on short notice with essentially no testing. Specifically, introducing “Walls as Field Boundaries” to Division A. Previous emails expressed the desire to make the discussion around big rule changes more public with the option to provide feedback in Bordeaux (and presumably each following year). However there was no mention of walls at the meeting in Sydney. Playing with walls and without are two very different games and increases the burden on teams as they have to prepare for two different sets of rules and with very short notice. There is currently no data on how the walls will change gameplay, so it is inappropriate to apply such a significant rule to the main competition without first testing it in smaller regional competitions or Technical Challenges. Furthermore, this sudden change further increases the gap between the Divisions, and poses another last-minute challenge for teams to adapt to that is discouraging for teams looking to transition from Division B to A.<br><br>As such, we propose a measured approach to introducing the “Walls as Field Boundaries” change; namely that it should be a mandatory technical challenge for Division A that all teams must participate in. This would significantly reduce the burden placed on teams by the compressed timeline, while still providing the league with the requisite data to assess the quality of this change. Teams would be allowed the freedom to try a variety of strategies without the added pressure of competition, and the league would have the freedom to quickly iterate over different sets of rules to fully test the potential of the change. We are confident that this more measured approach will be more amenable to teams, while still providing the TC/OC/EC and the league with best data and experience to evaluate the full implementation for Robocup 2021.<br><br>We look forward to continuing a collaborative discussion that involves all teams and stakeholders at Robocup 2020. We appreciate the ambition of the TC/OC/EC in trying to advance a common goal of increasing game-on time. However, the 10-day timeline for providing objective feedback on the currently proposed rule changes is too short for reasonable discussion given the magnitude of the changes. Large changes such as the introduction of walls should be scaled back and deferred until after more involved discussion can take place with all stakeholders at RoboCup 2020. By engaging our amazing SSL community in a collaborative decision-making process, we believe that we can continue to drive innovation in soccer AI and robotics into the future.<br><br>Regards,<br>UBC Thunderbots<div><br><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div>---</div><div><b><br></b></div><span style="font-size:12.8px"><b>UBC Thunderbots</b></span><div><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:small;line-height:21.3px">Faculty of Applied Science</div><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:small;line-height:21.3px">The University of British Columbia | Vancouver Campus </div></div><div><a href="mailto:robocup@ece.ubc.ca" target="_blank">robocup@ece.ubc.ca</a> | <a href="http://ubcthunderbots.ca/" target="_blank">http://ubcthunderbots.ca/</a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Nov 19, 2019 at 9:52 PM Carla Cosenza <<a href="mailto:carlaszecosenza@hotmail.com">carlaszecosenza@hotmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div style="font-family:Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">
<b>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">Dear SSL Community,</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">We have been striving for a long time to increase actual soccer game-on time during SSL games. Unfortunately, despite
several rules iterations, our analysis over the game logs from RoboCup 2018 and 2019 show that we are still far off the mark - games had an average of only 20% actual game-on time during RoboCup 2018, and 15% actual game on time during RoboCup 2019. To make
the situation worse, we have far more special game states than game on.</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">All the recent events have been caused by the lack of established procedure for making big changes with rapid adoption
for the Small Size League. We were trying to decrease the amount of time not spent on actual soccer during matches and did not manage to come to an agreement. In order to prevent this, we are creating a method for these decisions. Due to its importance, it
will be discussed in Bordeaux with representation of all teams and committees.</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">For RoboCup 2020, we have created a proposal for rule changes:
</span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EBfKZfXEYq2SpcLzUb7OE68vlUKjJnk_tnaulR5CMO8" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);font-weight:400;text-decoration:underline">https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EBfKZfXEYq2SpcLzUb7OE68vlUKjJnk_tnaulR5CMO8</span></a></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">You can also find an immutable copy of the document attached to this mail. We encourage teams to give us feedback
by the end of November. You can use the comment and suggestion mode or reply to this mail.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">If there is well justified concern, we’ll consider it when finalizing the rule changes. Some of the most notable
changes are:</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:700">Walls for field boundaries in some Div A matches</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">In order to verify the possibility of removing the out of bounds part of the field, we are going to test, in some
division A matches, having walls on the boundaries of the field. This will result in having less game states and less time spent placing the ball after it leaves the field. Each team will be required to play at least one game with the walls during the group
stage and before the match starts, both teams need to opt out of the walls in order not to use them. The objective of this change is to reduce the amount of time spent not playing soccer during the matches. Our statistical analysis has shown that games had
an average of only 20% actual game-on time during RoboCup 2018, and 15% actual game on time during RoboCup 2019.</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:700">11 robots and field size for Div A</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">Having Div A reach 11 robots has been on the SSL roadmap for this year and it will happen. Div A teams will be allowed
to have up to 11 robots on field. The only difference is that there will not be an increase in field size. We have measured that even if we do not change the field size, taking Div A to 11 robots will provide a bigger area per robot value (4.9m²) than the
current configuration for Div B does (4.5m²).</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:700">Match Statistics</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">When discussing rule changes, we need some facts and numbers from past RoboCups to support or reject arguments. We
also need to evaluate the effects of changes that were made. That’s why we started to establish a standard statistics database. The SSL committee commits on updating and evaluating these statistics each year.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">The code can be found here:
</span><a href="https://github.com/RoboCup-SSL/ssl-match-stats" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);font-weight:400;text-decoration:underline">https://github.com/RoboCup-SSL/ssl-match-stats</span></a></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">We will prepare an area on the SSL website with more information on this soon.</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:700">Qualification requirements</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">We will update the specifications for the qualification videos for Div A. Team have to demonstrate passing (with
a more precise definition) and ball placement. Both can still be demonstrated by game play footage, but we will limit the duration of the video for both divisions. This is to encourage teams to work on smooth game play. Details will be included in the
</span><a href="https://ssl.robocup.org/robocup-2020-qualification/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);font-weight:400;text-decoration:underline">qualification webpage</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">.</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:700">Technical challenges</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">We will repeat a version of the SSL-Vision Blackout Challenge. Both divisions are eligible to participate. We will
also have a Ball Placement Challenge for Div B teams only. </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:700">All Div B teams will be required to participate in the Ball Placement Challenge.</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">
The intention is to prepare Div B teams to move to Div A. More information about these challenges will be announced later. The current work-in-progress status can be found on GitHub:
</span><a href="https://github.com/RoboCup-SSL/technical-challenge-rules" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);font-weight:400;text-decoration:underline">https://github.com/RoboCup-SSL/technical-challenge-rules</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">. </span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:700">Other reminders and updates</span></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span>As stated in the previous email, all teams will be required to bring posters in order to present their changes and improvements to the other teams. Like last year we will schedule
a poster session where team members can present and discuss poster contents.</span></p>
</li><li dir="ltr" style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span>We are still testing April Tags for SSL Vision. Initial implementation works correctly but more testing is needed. We do not anticipate forcing teams to use the April tags at
this competition. However teams should start preparing for tags other than the currently butterfly patterns. </span></p>
</li></ul>
<br>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">All of these changes were based on the long term goals of the Small Size League. The main intended effect is to: </span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:center;margin-top:10pt;margin-bottom:10pt">
<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400;font-style:italic">Spend more time
</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;text-decoration:underline">solving the game-on regular soccer problem</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400;font-style:italic">,
not on non-soccer behaviors.</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:700;font-style:italic"> </span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">In particular, we anticipate ball handling (stealing, possession, dribbling, passing) to be more important now. We
are also trying to propose challenges to help Div B teams reach Div A, since Div B is intended to simplify the entrance of a new team to the league.</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:700">Team Leader Online Meeting</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">We would also like to invite the team leaders for an online meeting in order to clarify any concerns and discuss
the decisions for RoboCup 2020. We ask each team to fill out this form (</span><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScXR8BGCPYzZVHh0YUw8S75rYmV5HmCZk6xdenIvRXbV5yhbQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);font-weight:400;text-decoration:underline">https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScXR8BGCPYzZVHh0YUw8S75rYmV5HmCZk6xdenIvRXbV5yhbQ/viewform?usp=sf_link</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">)
with the name and email of their team leader so we can send out the invite for the meeting. </span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">We look forward to hearing from you!</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">Thank you!</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400">The Technical, Organization, and Executive Committees of the Small Size League</span></p>
</b></div>
</div>
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</blockquote></div>