- Email: [email protected]
FIRA (MiroSot) 98 Robotics Competition Corner
Robotics and Autonomous Systems ELSEVIER
Robotics and Autonomous Systems 26 (1999) 43
FIRA (MIROSOT) 98 Robotics Competition Corner R o b i n R. M u r p h y
The Federation of International Robot-soccer Association (FIRA) hosted the third Micro-Robot Soccer Tournament (MiroSot), renamed as the FIRA Robot World Cup, in Paris, France, June 30-July 4, 1998. The event was organized by Prof. Jong-Kwan Kim, at the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) independently of RoboCup 98, also held in Paris during July. The 1998 FIRA World Cup sported two physical leagues and two simulator leagues. The main physical league was MiroSot, with 18 teams from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Korea, Romania, Singapore, Spain, and the UK. Participants fielded teams of three self contained robots (7.5 cm x 7.5 cm x 7.5 cm). The teams played on a 130cm x 90cm arena with an orange golf ball serving as the miniature soccer ball. Each robot had a unique pattern of bright colors to make it visible from the overhead cameras, and communicated to a central processor over a radio link. First place went to The Keys team from Human Interface, Inc., Korea. The Keys followed the approach taken by the previous year's winner, Newton Labs, by creating a very fast vision processing card for their central processor. They dominated the competition, 11 : 0, 14 : l, 25:0. As with the 1997 competition, the semi-finalists tended to have faster vision processors and faster motors. However, control delays and errors in positioning resulted in collisions since MiroSot robots are not required to carry onboard collision detection systems, a significant difference from RoboCup. The simulator league, S-MiroSot, was almost as popular with 16 teams entered. The Keys proved that Elsevier Science B.V.
it wasn't just fast vision hardware that gave them an edge; their simulator entry also took first place (24:12). The NaroSot and S-Khepera leagues had only two teams in each event. The NaroSot (nano-robot) league featured robots sized 4 c m x 4 c m x 5.5 cm, which the organizers hope will put league in the Guinness Book of World Records. The University of Aarhus, Denmark, team edged out the team from Wayne State University, USA, for first place in the simulator Khepera league. Perhaps as a result of the differences in competition hardware and rules, RoboCup and FIRA appear to be fitting different niches in the robotics community. FIRA has not aggressively pursued a research publication agenda (while RoboCup has), but has put forth a commendable effort in hosting workshops concentrating on educational issues. Helpful notes on implementing centralized multi-agent robot systems are available at their extensive web site, http://www.fira.net. It is also noteworthy that FIRA events have a high degree of undergraduate participation, 33.3%, according to a report made to the FIRA community. Perhaps FIRA is the missing link between hobby robot competitions such as BEAM Olympics and research intensive events such as the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Competition. R. Murphy is currently an associate professor in the Computer Sciences and Engineering department at the University of South Florida. She is co-editor of A1 and Mobile Robots: Case Studies of Successful Robot Systems (MIT Press, 1998). Email: [email protected]. Robin
Robotics and Autonomous Systems 26 (1999) 43
FIRA (MIROSOT) 98 Robotics Competition Corner R o b i n R. M u r p h y
The Federation of International Robot-soccer Association (FIRA) hosted the third Micro-Robot Soccer Tournament (MiroSot), renamed as the FIRA Robot World Cup, in Paris, France, June 30-July 4, 1998. The event was organized by Prof. Jong-Kwan Kim, at the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) independently of RoboCup 98, also held in Paris during July. The 1998 FIRA World Cup sported two physical leagues and two simulator leagues. The main physical league was MiroSot, with 18 teams from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Korea, Romania, Singapore, Spain, and the UK. Participants fielded teams of three self contained robots (7.5 cm x 7.5 cm x 7.5 cm). The teams played on a 130cm x 90cm arena with an orange golf ball serving as the miniature soccer ball. Each robot had a unique pattern of bright colors to make it visible from the overhead cameras, and communicated to a central processor over a radio link. First place went to The Keys team from Human Interface, Inc., Korea. The Keys followed the approach taken by the previous year's winner, Newton Labs, by creating a very fast vision processing card for their central processor. They dominated the competition, 11 : 0, 14 : l, 25:0. As with the 1997 competition, the semi-finalists tended to have faster vision processors and faster motors. However, control delays and errors in positioning resulted in collisions since MiroSot robots are not required to carry onboard collision detection systems, a significant difference from RoboCup. The simulator league, S-MiroSot, was almost as popular with 16 teams entered. The Keys proved that Elsevier Science B.V.
it wasn't just fast vision hardware that gave them an edge; their simulator entry also took first place (24:12). The NaroSot and S-Khepera leagues had only two teams in each event. The NaroSot (nano-robot) league featured robots sized 4 c m x 4 c m x 5.5 cm, which the organizers hope will put league in the Guinness Book of World Records. The University of Aarhus, Denmark, team edged out the team from Wayne State University, USA, for first place in the simulator Khepera league. Perhaps as a result of the differences in competition hardware and rules, RoboCup and FIRA appear to be fitting different niches in the robotics community. FIRA has not aggressively pursued a research publication agenda (while RoboCup has), but has put forth a commendable effort in hosting workshops concentrating on educational issues. Helpful notes on implementing centralized multi-agent robot systems are available at their extensive web site, http://www.fira.net. It is also noteworthy that FIRA events have a high degree of undergraduate participation, 33.3%, according to a report made to the FIRA community. Perhaps FIRA is the missing link between hobby robot competitions such as BEAM Olympics and research intensive events such as the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Competition. R. Murphy is currently an associate professor in the Computer Sciences and Engineering department at the University of South Florida. She is co-editor of A1 and Mobile Robots: Case Studies of Successful Robot Systems (MIT Press, 1998). Email: [email protected]. Robin