RoboTeam Twente, a student team from the University of Twente and Saxion University of Applied Sciences, revealed a new generation of soccer robots on June 7th. The team has been working on improving and innovating the soccer robots since September. “I am proud of what we have achieved as a team this year, we have built a stable foundation for future teams,” says team manager Anne van Harten. In a month's time, the team will travel to Bangkok (Thailand) with the robots to participate in the World Championships of robot football.
Technical improvements
The main focus of improvements this year is on making the robots modular. This ensures that a problem can be diagnosed and fixed faster, which is crucial during a match. Replacing a part previously took up to 15 minutes, with the new design this has been reduced to 1 minute. In addition, by means of a new damping, the robots are better able to receive the ball and keep it with them.
Significant improvements have also been made to the software in the run-up to the World Cup. The Artificial Intelligence that controls the robots can now predict where the opponents' robots will be in the future and adjust the robot's path accordingly. This allows the robots to better anticipate the opponents and move more efficiently across the field.
The student team
RoboTeam Twente consists of 25 students from the University of Twente and Saxion Hogeschool. The goal of RoboTeam Twente is to inspire and innovate in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence. In Europe, they are one of four teams competing in the small size league of the World Championships of robot football. They compete against countries such as: Germany, China and Japan. With six years of experience and participation, they are one of the younger teams in this competition.
The World Championships of robot football
The RoboCup, the robot soccer world championship, will take place in Bangkok from 11 to 17 July 2022. RoboTeam Twente is the only Dutch team that participates in the small size league of the RoboCup. This league is focused on making multiple robots cooperate and work together. The goal of the RoboCup is to beat a human soccer team with an autonomous robot soccer team by 2050.
Text and contact: Anne van Harten, Team Manager, +31 (0)6 81 70 73 86, Anne van Harten, www.roboteamtwente.nl
