The Wire

Teams of Sony AIBO robot puppies battled it out for supremacy at the Australian Robot Soccer Open at the University of Technology, Sydney, last month. The Australian open is the first in a world wide series of robot soccer competitions leading up to the Robot Soccer World Cup – or ROBOCUP – to be held alongside the European Soccer Championship in Lisbon this year. The ultimate aim of the ROBOCUP competition is to build a team of autonomous two-legged robots that can take out the human world soccer champions. In the meantime, the competition is driving research into artificial intelligence and robotics forward in leaps and bounds as all the information gained by the teams is shared at the end of each round. Christine Baker spoke to Professor Mary Anne Williams, leader of the winning team – UTS Unleashed – from the Innovation and Technology Research Lab at the University of Technology, Sydney.

Third Australian Robot Soccer Open Champions 2004
Robocup 2004 website