Robosoccer [mobile robotics experiment]

Abstract

This paper describes robosoccer, the latest experiment in robotics, and one that is growing in popularity on college campuses around the world. In robosoccer, two teams of boxy, wheeled robots face off against each other. A whistle blows and they spring into action, jostling for possession of a brightly colored golfball on a playing field the size ofa Ping-Pong table. Each team struggles to push the ball into the other team's goal located at the opposite end of the table. The author describes how the robots move fluidly and fluidly, constantly adjusting to the run of play in a surprisingly lifelike way.