Robo Cup
... compete side by side to follow a line to a designated rescue area. On the way the robot can choose to take a 'gravel road' short cut if its programmers have taken up that challenge. After negotiating an increasingly more complex path, the robot arrives at a yellow coloured area to indicate quicksand. Each robot will rescue a Yowie from the quicksand and take it to safety. The robot will be given points for completing various stages of the "rescue" and for completing the "rescue" in the shortest time. In 2003 a Premier Division will be introduced where the robots will be asked to carry the Yowie back along the line to the start point. RoboCup Junior Soccer Students are required to design and program two robots to compete against an opposing pair of robots by kicking an infra-red transmitting ball into their designated goal. Teams have a choice of using two attacking robots or an attacker teamed with a goalie. The field is the size of a table tennis table and is graded from black to white, to allow the robots to use downward facing light sensors to ascertain which way to kick. Due to its ease of introduction to the uninitiated, most students choose to use LEGO Mindstorms for Schools sets to build and program their robots. Although the LEGO Mindstorms for Schools set can continue to be very competitive while being modified to high degree of complexity, other students select alternative platforms and even build their own microprocessor robots from basic electronic components. A range of sensors can been attached to all of the robotic platforms. These include: electronic compasses, sonar, modified light sensors and motor rotation sensors. Here are some of the great student sites from last year. Sacre Coeur The Hills Grammar Carson Au Patterson Lakes PS RoboCup Junior Australia Achievements RoboCup Junior 2002 · The Australian competition has expanded to an 464 teams with 160teams competing at the Interact National Finals, to be held at the Melbourne Convention Centre. · The world finals were held at the Fukuoka Dome in June. RoboCup Junior, with 62 teams from 15 countries was the largest league in a competition that entirely filled the stadium. 120,000 spectators attended over the 5 days of competition. Brisbane Grammar team E Strikers were successful in keeping the world title in Australian hands. · A publication entitled "RoboCup Junior: Learning With Educational Robotics." written by Professor Elizabeth Sklar, Columbia University NY, Professor Jeffrey Johnson, British open University and Doctor Amy Eguchi, Cambridge University was awarded the best scientific publication for the RoboCup Fukuoka Conference. This paper acknowledged the role played by the members of the Melbourne Committee in the development of RoboCup Junior. · A RoboCup Junior C.D. which includes 40 different teaching units has been developed and is now being published by Official Training Partners Educational Experience. This C.D. also contains videos and event management information. · RoboCup Junior formed a partnership with Sony Australia to produce a school curriculum and to promote the AIBO E (Educational) robotic dog initiative. · An electronic compass which has been developed by Bellarine Secondary College students is now being manufactured by Wiltronics. · The first RoboCup Junior Event in the world, to be conducted by students, was held in Geelong in July . A feature of this is that the organising committee consists entirely of female students. RoboCup Junior 2001 · The educational competition was expanded in Australia to create leagues in every state. Each State conducted its own Finals, which were well supported with programs packed full of participation and enthusiasm. Regional school learning networks were created in Victoria and numerous regional RoboCup Junior tournaments were held. Over 200 teams and almost 1000 students competed in Australia in 2001. · The appeal of RoboCup Junior was most evident at the Australian National Finals at Dallas Brooks Hall in Melbourne. For two days, two levels of the conference centre were taken over by hundreds of students, robots and their computers. The air of cooperation and spirited enthusiasm was noted by all who attended. The finals of each event were held in a cauldron like auditorium. Students, parents and VIP guests all joined in the excitement of the soccer final, cheering the robots on by name, applauding skilled passages of play and contributing to the Mexican Wave. · An increasing number of female students competed in RoboCup Junior. Thirty Six per cent of students competing at the National finals were girls. · The Infra ...