Build Your Own Soccer-Playing Robot

An anonymous reader writes "This article by a Ph.D student at Shanghai JiaoTong University (SJTU) Research Institute of Robotics describes an RTLinux-powered robot that placed fifth in the most recent RoboCup competition. The robot has two color cameras for visual sensing along with a laser range finder (LRF) for goalkeeper location, and a wireless LAN allows communication among the robots on SJTU's team. The robot's embedded operating system is Red Hat Linux enhanced with the RTLinuxPro real-time extension."

5th?

[Anonymous Coward]

Wouldn't it be better to learn from the team who came first?

Red Hat = embedded?

[Alwin Henseler]

From the summary: "The robot's embedded operating system is Red Hat Linux enhanced with the RTLinuxPro real-time extension."

Using Red Hat for embedding in a robot application? Sounds like an awful poor choice of tools, if you ask me.

Soccer cyborgs

[Anonymous Coward]

Could these be used in combat? Just replace the soccer ball with a rocket launcher.

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Re:2050 World Cup Championship

[Anonymous Coward]

Dude, go rent a Fifa Soccer videogame.

The strategy of soccer is not an insurmountable AI problem.

The problem in soccer is moving one's body to where it needs to be in the time it needs to get there. The problems are first visual (how does the robot know where it is, it's team mates, the ball, etc.) and second control (how does the robot know how to run without falling over, kick at the right speed, etc.). Now, in a videogame, these things aren't issues, just the strategy. Thus, you can see that the strategy part has basically already been solved by going out and renting anyone of a bazillion soccer videogames.