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GameController Packet - Relevant for Dynamic Ball Handling Challenge
by Arne Hasselbring 09 Mar '22

09 Mar '22

Hi everyone, since the defender images for the dynamic ball handling challenge need to be handed in in a few days, they must already be compatible with a GameController that will be used at RoboCup. Therefore, I'd like to notify you about the changes in RoboCupGameControlData.h (which you can find here: https://github.com/RoboCup-SPL/GameController/blob/master/include/RoboCupGa…). I hope that this file does not need to be changed again for RoboCup. Otherwise, I will make sure that at least for the Dynamic Ball Handling Challenge there is a GameController that can handle both the current version of the packet and the one that will be current then (because I guess that would be what the attackers use). The changes in RoboCupGameControlData compared to 2021 are: - increased version number - increased MAX_NUM_PLAYERS to 7 (affects the size of TeamInfo and therefore RoboCupGameControlData) - updated COMPETITION_TYPE macros - added messageBudget field to TeamInfo - indicates how many messages a team has left RoboCupGameControlReturnData has also changed (this is what makes robots show up as active in the GameController): https://github.com/RoboCup-SPL/GameController/commit/a9f113e2f0f0e40ac6deca… It is now similar to the SPLStandardMessage, such that a TCM running on the GC computer could still visualize the robots' poses and ball observations at an acceptable rate (remember that this is unicast to the GC host anyway). Although the return packets are already received by the TCM, merging them into the visualization is still work in progress. Best regards, Arne Hasselbring

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RoboCup International Symposium 2022 - Call for Papers
by Nuno Lau 03 Mar '22

03 Mar '22

Dear RoboCuppers; Please consider submitting your paper to this year's symposium! Call for papers RoboCup International Symposium 2022 https://2022.robocup.org/symposium-call-for-papers/ 17 July 2022 Bangkok, Thailand (hybrid setting) The 25th RoboCup International Symposium will be held on 17 July 2022, in conjunction with RoboCup 2022 (11 July to 17 July 2022) in a hybrid setting. We call for submissions of papers reporting innovative, original research with relevance to areas of robotics and artificial intelligence as listed below. Within the described scope of topics, we also encourage submissions of high-quality overview articles, papers describing real-world research, and papers reporting theoretical results. Researchers are invited to submit their work independently of whether they participate in the RoboCup competitions or have a RoboCup team. The symposium is planned to be held in person in Bangkok, Thailand, with remote participation options for both presenters and attendees. In addition to the regular track with regular research papers, there is the development track encouraging reports on innovative hardware developments, software frameworks, and open-source releases of software components. A review of papers describing these contributions will be based on technical aspects and benefits to the practice of communities working in the above fields in general and RoboCup in particular. IMPORTANT DATES Submission of full papers: 17 April 2022 Notification to authors: 5 June 2022 Submission of camera-ready copies: 26 June 2022 RoboCup Symposium 2022: 17 July 2022 (RoboCup on 11-17 July 2022) SUBMISSION AND PROCEEDINGS All papers will be peer-reviewed and evaluated by members of the senior program committee. The proceedings of the RoboCup International Symposium will be published and archived within the Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence (LNCS/LNAI) series by Springer-Verlag after the conference. Papers should be formatted following the LNAI author guidelines (https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-gu…) and must be electronically submitted through the EasyChair electronic submission system (https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=robocupsymposium2022). Submissions are limited to 12 pages including references. Springer’s proceedings LaTeX templates are also available in Overleaf: https://de.overleaf.com/latex/templates/springer-lecture-notes-in-computer-… TOPICS Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: * Robot Hardware and Software - mobile robotics - humanoid robotics - sensors and actuators - embedded and mobile devices - robot construction and new materials - robot system integration - robot software architectures - robot programming environments and languages - real-time and concurrent programming - robot simulators - sim2real learning * Perception and Action - 3D perception - distributed sensor integration - sensor noise filtering - real-time image processing and pattern recognition - motion and sensor models - sensory-motor control - robot kinematics and dynamics - high-dimensional motion control * Robot Cognition and Learning - world modelling and knowledge representation - learning from demonstration and imitation - localisation, navigation, and mapping - planning and reasoning - decision making under uncertainty - neural systems and deep learning - complex motor skill acquisition - reinforcement learning and optimisation - motion and sensor model learning * Human-Robot Interaction - robot social intelligence - fluency of interaction - speech synthesis and natural language generation - natural language recognition - explainable robot behaviours - emotion recognition and reaction - understanding human intent and behaviour - safety, security and dependability - enabling humans to predict robot behaviour * Multi-Robot Systems - team coordination methods - communication protocols - learning and adaptive systems - teamwork and heterogeneous agents - dynamic resource allocation - adjustable autonomy * Education and Edutainment - robotics and artificial intelligence education - educational robotics - robot kits and programming tools - robotic entertainment * Applications and Benchmarking - search and rescue robots - robot surveillance - service and social robots - robots at home, at work and in public spaces - robots in the real world - performance metrics - human-robot interaction DEVELOPMENT TRACK To encourage open-source release of hardware and software systems, the RoboCup International Symposium has included a development track in recent years. In 2021, we expand the scope of this track to include datasets and benchmarks. We encourage the submission of papers describing open-source hardware and software, tools and frameworks that facilitate development of robotics hardware and software, datasets that enable new robotic capabilities, as well as benchmarks that establish reproducible test beds and performance metrics to advance research. If applicable, contributions to the special track should include evidence of the released system or dataset, and highlight past, ongoing, and/or potential future impacts on the RoboCup community. A review of these contributions will be based on technical merit and benefits to the RoboCup community and the research topics listed above. PROGRAM CO-CHAIRS Maike Paetzel-Prüsmann, University of Potsdam, Germany Nuno Lau, University of Aveiro, Portugal Thanapat Wanichanon, Mahidol University, Thailand Amy Eguchi, University of California San Diego CONTACT robocupsymposium2022(a)easychair.org<mailto:robocupsymposium2022@easychair.org>

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GORE_3 - Team and Participants Registration & Updates
by Arne Moos 03 Mar '22

03 Mar '22

Dear teams, this is a mail dealing with the official registration for the GORE_3 from the 12.04. till 17.04.22 in Hamburg, Germany. You can always find the latest information here on our website: https://gore-event.github.io/ *GORE_3 - 2022 Registration Fees and Deadlines*: MAJOR FEES: * Major Team €200 * Major Participant (Faculty/Staff/Student) €75 * Major Participant late registration €100 TEAM REGISTRATION: * Until March 20, 2022 PARTICIPANT REGISTRATION (ON-SITE): * Until March 20, 2022 Note: Remote teams only need to register the team. The *official invoice will be sent out at the beginning of April* with possible reduced costs due to sponsors. *GORE_3 - 2022 Registration*: For the registration process the team leader(s) collects all participants (including themselves) and then fills out this registration form: https://forms.gle/Qfg2MzPutGzGRpot7 /All data entered in the registration form will only be used for the purpose of registration, payment processing and creation of badges. Directly after the event this data will be deleted!/ Since we have some teams that only participate remotely and cannot ship robots we ask all teams to provide a few robots for a shared robot pool. These robots can always be used for your own team if you need them and Softbank Robotics will be onsite for direct repairs! Shortly before the event, we will send out a document regarding the use of photos and videos taken during the event, which all participants must sign and bring with them. More information on this in a later mail. /Note: /In order to modify the number of participants you can send a copy of the form to your mail (slider at the end of the registration form) and with this you can modify your registration. Or the registration form must be completely filled out another time (only the last submission before the deadline counts). Also late registration of participants, after the deadline, is possible but at a higher fee for the late registered participants! *GORE_3 - 2022 Venue*: For teams participating on-site, the venue is located in the Handelskammer <https://www.hk24.de/en/servicemarken/event-management/room-boersensaal-1159…> (Chamber of Commerce) of Hamburg. There we use the "Börsensaal" where two SPL fields will be set up. Around them are the team zones, Softbank Robotics, a Junior competition and space for the audience. Since the venue is located in the center of Hamburg and there are enough hotels around it, we did not book a contingent at certain hotels. VENUE ADDRESS: * Adolphsplatz 1 20457 Hamburg Germany <https://www.google.de/maps/place/Handelskammer+Hamburg/@53.549812,9.9888133…> Instructions for the on-site delivery or the exact address for shipping robots will be available in a later mail. *GORE_3 - 2022 Covid19/Corona Rules*: Due to the current Covid19/Corona situation, we will be paying attention to the health of all participants at this event. Therefore, access (both participants and spectators) is only possible under the *2G+ rule (vaccinated or recovered both with an additional official negative test or for boostered people a self-test)*. For this you need a proof which is valid in the EU. Even if many of the Corona rules could be dropped before the event, we currently assume, since we are staying with many people in an indoor area, that we require you to wear a medical mask all the time and do an official Corona test or self-test every day. All in all let's create a safe environment together so that no one has to worry about their health and can concentrate on playing robot soccer. *GORE_3 - 2022 Drinks and food*: For the thirst in between we provide refrigerators from which you can take drinks at the retail price. We do not offer catering/food booths because we are located in the center of Hamburg and there are many possibilities around to get food. *GORE_3 - 2022 SPL-Rules*: You can find the adapted SPL rules with added robot safety enhancements from the last GORE_1/2 under the following link: https://github.com/RoboCup-SPL/Rules/tree/GORE_3 In general, please note that we will already play with the new*Event-Based-Communication* at the GORE_3. Also, some of the robot safety rules from the previous GORE rules could been relaxed and this will be decide at the first team leader meeting on site together with the teams. If you are interested in a committed participation in the GORE_3, please fill out the registration form <https://forms.gle/Qfg2MzPutGzGRpot7> from above. For further questions and remarks please send us a mail at gore.organisation(a)gmail.com. See you soon in Hamburg and stay healthy. The GORE_3 organizing committee Arne, Jörn, Patrick und Sebastian -- M.Sc. Arne Moos Robotics Research Institute Section Information Technology TU Dortmund University Otto-Hahn-Str. 8 44227 Dortmund, Germany arne.moos(a)tu-dortmund.de http://www.it.irf.tu-dortmund.de Phone: +49 231 755 7047 Fax: +49 231 755 3251 Important note: The information included in this e-mail is confidential. It is solely intended for the recipient. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail please contact the sender and delete this message. Thank you. Without prejudice of e-mail correspondence, our statements are only legally binding when they are made in the conventional written form (with personal signature) or when such documents are sent by fax.

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RoboCup International Symposium 2022 - Call for Satellite Events
by Maike Paetzel-Prüsmann 24 Feb '22

24 Feb '22

* Call for Satellite Events * RoboCup International Symposium 2022 https://2022.robocup.org/symposium-call-for-satellite-events/ Submission of proposals: 3 April 2022 Notification to authors: 25 April 2022 Satellite Events: 17 or 18 July 2022 (RoboCup 2022: 11-17 July 2022) =========================================================== We invite you to organize a satellite event for the 25th RoboCup International Symposium, which will be held on 17 July 2022, in conjunction with RoboCup 2022 (11 July to 17 July 2022) in a hybrid setting. The RoboCup symposium is an annual event in which innovative, original research with relevance to areas of robotics and artificial intelligence is presented. The Symposium Program Co-Chairs would like to facilitate the organization of satellite workshops, focus groups, roundtable discussions, and other events that are related to RoboCup itself or the general aim of the RoboCup Symposium. This includes league-specific discussions about rules and/or roadmaps, shared infrastructure projects between leagues, as well as scientific workshops focusing on a particular research topic, among others. League committee members, as well as teams or individuals from RoboCup leagues participating in the Symposium, are invited to submit their proposals. The organizers of a satellite event are free to propose events between 2 and 8 hours in length to be held during or a day after the RoboCup Symposium (17 or 18 July) in a fully virtual, hybrid, or fully local format. IMPORTANT DATES =============== Submission of satellite events: 3 April 2022 Notification to authors: 25 April 2022 Satellite Events: 17 or 18 July 2022 (RoboCup 2022: 11-17 July 2022) SUBMISSION AND PROCEEDINGS ========================== Proposals will be evaluated by the Symposium Program Co-Chairs based on their thematic relevance to the RoboCup Symposium as well as their proposed schedule and required resources. Satellite events will not be included in the RoboCup Symposium proceedings. Proposals should be formatted following the LNAI author guidelines [0] and must be electronically submitted through the EasyChair electronic submission system [1]. Please follow the LaTeX template created by us by either downloading the template file [2] or by creating a private copy of this Overleaf template [3]. Submissions are limited to a 4-page extended abstract, excluding references. Each submission must include the following sections: * Name of the satellite event * A description of the format (e.g., discussion group, workshop, tutorial, invited talks, ...) and intended length of the event * Prefered date and time of the event (17 or 18; morning or afternoon, or the whole day [no lunch will be provided unless it’s on the 17th]) * A description of the content and aim of the satellite event * Names and contacts of all members of the organizing committee/group with one clearly marked person as the corresponding member of the organizing committee * The intended audience and the number of participants expected * Any resources required to organize the workshop After the acceptance of their proposal, organizers are expected to create a short description of their event as well as a website providing further information which will both be linked from the RoboCup symposium page on the RoboCup 2022 website. Organizers of accepted proposals for satellite events will receive a location for their event as well as other required resources (e.g., a projector), if possible. Apart from this, the organizers are responsible for organizing their event independent of the RoboCup Symposium. PROGRAM CO-CHAIRS ================== Maike Paetzel-Prüsmann, University of Potsdam, Germany Nuno Lau, University of Aveiro, Portugal Thanapat Wanichanon, Mahidol University, Thailand Amy Eguchi, University of California San Diego, USA CONTACT ======= robocupsymposium2022(a)easychair.org [0] https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-gu… [1] https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=robocupsymposium2022 [2] https://2022.robocup.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Symposium-Satellite-Eve… [3] https://de.overleaf.com/read/gqspxdtvpwsn

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[RC-Humanoid League Virtual Season] Next game day on Feb 20, 2022 at 15:00 (CET)
by Alessandra Rossi 17 Feb '22

17 Feb '22

Dear RoboCuppers, We are coming back with a new day of super interesting games on Sunday Feb 20! Grab popcorns, a beer or a warm coffee and join us in enjoying the thrill of RoboCup by sitting in your comfy place! Games will be streamed on Twitch Field A and commented by OCs and teams' members for getting insights on the games, the simulation, robots and software developed by the teams. Have a look at the website for more information about the games, including previous games, scores, and so on. For checking the time zone differences, you can use websites such as worldtimebuddy Best regards, Alessandra Dr. Alessandra Rossi Assistant Professor PRISCA research lab Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy

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Reminder: RoboCup 2022 SPL Call for Participation
by Stefan Seering 10 Feb '22

10 Feb '22

Call for Applications for Participation RoboCup 2022 Standard Platform League spl.robocup.org <http://spl.robocup.org/> Monday 11th July through Sunday 17th July 2022 Bangkok, Thailand 2022.robocup.org <https://2022.robocup.org> RoboCup <https://www.robocup.org/> is an international initiative that fosters research and education in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence through a variety of competitions (RoboCupSoccer, RoboCupRescue, RoboCup@Home, RoboCupJunior) involving mostly multi-robot systems. RoboCup currently includes a number of different robot soccer leagues that focus on different research challenges. *The Standard Platform League (SPL)* is characterized by all the teams using an identical robot platform. Participating researchers focus on algorithmic development for fully autonomous robots, i.e., robots that operate with no external control. The SPL at RoboCup 2022 will use V6, V5 or older versions of the NAO humanoid robot manufactured by SoftBank Robotics <https://www.softbankrobotics.com/emea/en/nao>. The SPL robot soccer team competition games at RoboCup 2022 will be played indoor and outdoor between teams of five robots on a 6m x 9m playing surface. Teams should be able to play on a randomly assigned indoor or outdoor field within one hour. The RoboCup 2022 SPL will host: * A 5 vs. 5 team competition as the main competition of the event. * A 7 vs. 7 competition. * A visual referee technical challenge. * A dynamic ball handling technical challenge. * A video analysis and statistics open research challenge. The 5 vs. 5 team competition will consist of a similar number of games for most teams compared to recent years. The structure from 2019 will be used to allow all teams to play games against teams with similar skill levels. See Appendix A.4 of the preliminary rulebook <https://spl.robocup.org/downloads/> for more details. The teams participating in the team competition should also compete in some of the additional technical challenges. The 7 vs. 7 side competition extends the ideas from the mixed team competition, and 1 vs. 1 remote challenge from RoboCup 2021 to a standardized 7 vs. 7 NAO V6 on-site competition. Its goal is to encourage more collaborative game play and offer a chance for teams to work together more closely. Participating in 7 vs. 7 is recognized as participation in a technical challenge. Additional technical challenges offered at the competition are the visual referee challenge and the dynamic ball handling challenge. The open research challenge aims to provide the SPL with long term performance statistics based on video analysis. Please note that the open research challenge comes with additional deadlines as mentioned in the rulebook. All challenges will be detailed further with the release of the SPL rules document. To assist in adoption of V6 Robots source code examples and documentation regarding V6 robots were published on the SPL website <https://spl.robocup.org/v6-support/>. One can also find example code working with V6 Robots in the code released by participating teams. These examples allow teams to adapt their competition code from recent years more easily to encourage use of V6 Robots. If you need access to the RoboCup NAOqi Image and the specific documentation, please write an email (mentioning your team affiliation) to rc-spl-tc(a)lists.robocup.org. Survey The RoboCup Federation is committed to supporting an in-person event in Thailand from July 11th-17th, as long as the LOC in Thailand decides it is possible. For this purpose, the RoboCup Federation plans to send a survey to all teams considering to apply for RoboCup 2022. If you are considering to apply for participation this year, please send an email stating your interest in RoboCup SPL to rc-spl-tc(a)lists.robocup.org by 12th of January 2022 in addition to your regular application. Qualification All interested teams must submit an original qualification document. For the qualification document to be considered, it must (1) be no longer than *6 pages* and (2) include all the following information in *sections with the specified headings*: 1. *Team Information:* the team name, the team leader(s), and the university/company affiliation(s) of the team 2. *Code Usage:* Acknowledge the team’s use of any other team’s code (1) previously from 2017 to present and (2) anticipated at RoboCup 2022. If code is used from other teams, is this code integrated into a code base that is mainly designed by the applying team? If the applying team does not use any other team’s code, state so. For further details, please have a look into the rule book, section A.1 <https://spl.robocup.org/downloads/>. 3. *Own Contribution:* Describe in detail the ‘research publishable’ significant advancements the applying team has made and is going to use at RoboCup 2022, in accordance with the rule book, section A.1 <https://spl.robocup.org/downloads/>. 4. *Past History:* provide game results in RoboCup Open competitions as well as main RoboCup competitions from 2018 onward. Include opponents and game scores from each competition in a table. State if the team plans to participate in any RoboCup Open competitions or friendlies prior to RoboCup 2022. 5. *Impact:* What is the impact of the team’s participation and research in RoboCup on (1) the SPL, (2) the team’s university/community? 6. *Video presentation:* Include a link to a video (maximum 5 minutes long, uploaded on the team’s web site or on some video server) that demonstrates the status of the team. The organizing committees use the video to determine the readiness of the team to compete effectively, and hence should focus on the team’s ability to play soccer. Teams who did not participate in the team competition at RoboCup 2019 or any challenge at RoboCup 2021 *must* include footage of at least one robot attempting to kick off and score (this footage must be captured as a single wide shot with no cuts). If robots from multiple teams are active in the footage (e.g., game footage), please include a textual overlay or additional document denoting which robots belong to the applying team for every scene. Videos of simulation contributions will also be accepted, but only when a real robot is unavailable. Preference will be given to teams that use real robots to show soccer skills in their video. 7. *Other:* Present any other information that you believe supports your application. If your application mentions more than one e-mail address, please specify which one should be used to contact your team regarding your application. Pre-Qualification Teams are given the chance to pre-qualify based on their performance at RoboCup 2019 and 2021. Teams will be pre-qualified for RoboCup 2022, if they submit the following original qualification document. Teams able to pre-qualify include: * B-Human * UNISABANA Herons SPL * rUNSWift * HULKs * Bembelbots * Berlin United- Nao TH * Nao Devils * HTWK Robots * UT Austin Villa The original qualification document must include: 1. *Team Information:* the team name, the team leader(s), and the university/company affiliation(s) of the team 2. *Code Usage:* Acknowledge the team’s use of any other team’s code (1) previously from 2017 to present and (2) anticipated at RoboCup 2020. If code is used from other teams, is this code integrated into a code base that is mainly designed by the applying team? If the applying team does not use any other team’s code, state so. For further details, please have a look into the rule book, section A.1 <https://spl.robocup.org/downloads/>. 3. *Own Contribution:* Describe in detail the ‘research publishable’ significant advancements the applying team has made and is going to use at RoboCup 2022, in accordance with the rule book, section A.1 <https://spl.robocup.org/downloads/>. 4. *TRR:* a link to a team research report describing their work for RoboCup 2019 or 2021 or both (which must be published in a publicly available location) 5. *Code Release:* a link to a public code release as detailed in the 2019 SPL rulebook If a joint 2019 team splits, only one team can be pre-qualified for 2022 (please, indicate which one). Qualification for Regional Opens Only Teams may also submit a short intent to participate in a regional open if they do not wish to participate in the 2022 RoboCup competition. Although teams may participate in regional opens without submitting this intent to participate, teams who submit an intent to participate and become qualified will be eligible for future special robot pricing. Special robot pricing for team competing in RoboCup Events are still being discussed. Updates about special prices will be announced as soon as offers and conditions are finalized. Teams must submit the following information by 15th of February 2022: (1) The team name, leader(s), and the university/company affiliation(s) of the team and (2) a short statement describing the status/progress of the team. A link to a short video showing robot soccer behaviours and/or game play (using robots or in simulation) may be included if available. Submission and Evaluation All applications with the (pre-)qualification material must be submitted by *15th of February 2022*, by email to rc-spl-tc(a)lists.robocup.org. Applications must not be sent to personal SPL TC/OC email addresses and must not contain video attachments. Note that applying serves as a statement of commitment to participate in the RoboCup 2022 SPL. The organizing committees are aware of the ongoing COVID situation and assume that all applications are subject to withdrawal due to COVID. Applications are not required to mention uncertainties related to COVID to avoid negative effects on future applications. We would rather encourage teams to plan optimistically and sign up with the possibility of withdrawing if situation requires it. For situations other than COVID: If you have doubts regarding the ability of your team to participate (due to funding, visas, etc.), please apply by the deadline but note this in your application. Declining to participate in any competition after the official early registration period has opened may negatively affect future applications (the later you decline, the worse it will affect future applications). Teams are encouraged to consider joint participation. Joint proposals will be judged on combined merit. Applications will be evaluated to consider a variety of components including: 1. Potential to play competitive games at RoboCup 2022 (demonstrated ability to play soccer, previous results, etc.) 2. Contributions (and potential contributions) to league (code releases/papers, active in organization, developing own code, etc.) 3. Diversity (region, team make-up, unique characteristics, etc.) Qualification decisions, including alternate lists, will be announced by 29th of February 2022. Robot Acquisition Teams who submit an intent to participate and become qualified will be eligible for potential future special robot pricing. Special robot pricing for team competing in RoboCup Events are still being discussed. Updates about special prices will be announced if offers and conditions are finalized. /RoboCup 2022 Standard Platform League Technical and Organizing Committees/

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GORE_3 - Expression of interest - Reply by 20.02.22
by Arne Moos 09 Feb '22

09 Feb '22

Dear everyone, as many of you have already read, there will again be no German Open this year. To provide a reasonable alternative, the SPL and Humanoid League joined together to organize the *German Open Replacement Event (GORE)*. The event will take place between the *12.04. and 17.04.22*. To get a better feeling about the size of the event, we would like to ask you, if and in what way you and your team would like to participate. At the current time we are still planning to hold the event in *presence*, if the COVID-19 situation still allows it by then. If that is the case, the event will *take place in Hamburg, Germany in the Handelskammer <https://www.hk24.de/en/servicemarken/event-management>*. We are following the regulations advised by the RKI, which means only persons who recovered from COVID or fully vaccinated persons are admitted if they can also present a negative test result. People with a booster vaccination do not need a test. In any case, participants are required to wear a medical mask at all times. Since the situation is changing quickly and unpredictably, we are also preparing *online* (for HL: simulated; for SPL: running your code on a common robot pool from home) or *hybrid* (for SPL: teams that cannot be on site can either send robots or use shared robots from other teams similar to a robot pool) solutions, please let us know, which of these alternatives works best for you. For the SPL, *Softbank Robotics* has also already announced that they will be on site to facilitate repairs. We expect the participation to cost about *200€ per team plus 75€ per team member*, we will let you know the exact numbers as soon as we have them and it is likely to become less again. If you are interested in participating in the GORE, please send a reply to gore.organisation(a)gmail.com containing: * *Your team name* * *Your teams league (SPL or Humanoid)* * *Whether you want to participate in presence, online or hybrid* * *An approximate count of how many people you will bring* Please send your *replies by February 20th*, so that we can plan better. See you soon and stay healthy. The GORE organizing committee Arne, Jörn, Patrick and Sebastian -- M.Sc. Arne Moos Robotics Research Institute Section Information Technology TU Dortmund University Otto-Hahn-Str. 8 44227 Dortmund, Germany arne.moos(a)tu-dortmund.de http://www.it.irf.tu-dortmund.de Phone: +49 231 755 7047 Fax: +49 231 755 3251 Important note: The information included in this e-mail is confidential. It is solely intended for the recipient. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail please contact the sender and delete this message. Thank you. Without prejudice of e-mail correspondence, our statements are only legally binding when they are made in the conventional written form (with personal signature) or when such documents are sent by fax.

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Reminder: RoboCup 2022 SPL Call for Participation
by Stefan Seering 06 Feb '22

06 Feb '22

Call for Applications for Participation RoboCup 2022 Standard Platform League spl.robocup.org <http://spl.robocup.org/> Monday 11th July through Sunday 17th July 2022 Bangkok, Thailand 2022.robocup.org <https://2022.robocup.org> RoboCup <https://www.robocup.org/> is an international initiative that fosters research and education in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence through a variety of competitions (RoboCupSoccer, RoboCupRescue, RoboCup@Home, RoboCupJunior) involving mostly multi-robot systems. RoboCup currently includes a number of different robot soccer leagues that focus on different research challenges. *The Standard Platform League (SPL)* is characterized by all the teams using an identical robot platform. Participating researchers focus on algorithmic development for fully autonomous robots, i.e., robots that operate with no external control. The SPL at RoboCup 2022 will use V6, V5 or older versions of the NAO humanoid robot manufactured by SoftBank Robotics <https://www.softbankrobotics.com/emea/en/nao>. The SPL robot soccer team competition games at RoboCup 2022 will be played indoor and outdoor between teams of five robots on a 6m x 9m playing surface. Teams should be able to play on a randomly assigned indoor or outdoor field within one hour. The RoboCup 2022 SPL will host: * A 5 vs. 5 team competition as the main competition of the event. * A 7 vs. 7 competition. * A visual referee technical challenge. * A dynamic ball handling technical challenge. * A video analysis and statistics open research challenge. The 5 vs. 5 team competition will consist of a similar number of games for most teams compared to recent years. The structure from 2019 will be used to allow all teams to play games against teams with similar skill levels. See Appendix A.4 of the preliminary rulebook <https://spl.robocup.org/downloads/> for more details. The teams participating in the team competition should also compete in some of the additional technical challenges. The 7 vs. 7 side competition extends the ideas from the mixed team competition, and 1 vs. 1 remote challenge from RoboCup 2021 to a standardized 7 vs. 7 NAO V6 on-site competition. Its goal is to encourage more collaborative game play and offer a chance for teams to work together more closely. Participating in 7 vs. 7 is recognized as participation in a technical challenge. Additional technical challenges offered at the competition are the visual referee challenge and the dynamic ball handling challenge. The open research challenge aims to provide the SPL with long term performance statistics based on video analysis. Please note that the open research challenge comes with additional deadlines as mentioned in the rulebook. All challenges will be detailed further with the release of the SPL rules document. To assist in adoption of V6 Robots source code examples and documentation regarding V6 robots were published on the SPL website <https://spl.robocup.org/v6-support/>. One can also find example code working with V6 Robots in the code released by participating teams. These examples allow teams to adapt their competition code from recent years more easily to encourage use of V6 Robots. If you need access to the RoboCup NAOqi Image and the specific documentation, please write an email (mentioning your team affiliation) to rc-spl-tc(a)lists.robocup.org. Survey The RoboCup Federation is committed to supporting an in-person event in Thailand from July 11th-17th, as long as the LOC in Thailand decides it is possible. For this purpose, the RoboCup Federation plans to send a survey to all teams considering to apply for RoboCup 2022. If you are considering to apply for participation this year, please send an email stating your interest in RoboCup SPL to rc-spl-tc(a)lists.robocup.org by 12th of January 2022 in addition to your regular application. Qualification All interested teams must submit an original qualification document. For the qualification document to be considered, it must (1) be no longer than *6 pages* and (2) include all the following information in *sections with the specified headings*: 1. *Team Information:* the team name, the team leader(s), and the university/company affiliation(s) of the team 2. *Code Usage:* Acknowledge the team’s use of any other team’s code (1) previously from 2017 to present and (2) anticipated at RoboCup 2022. If code is used from other teams, is this code integrated into a code base that is mainly designed by the applying team? If the applying team does not use any other team’s code, state so. For further details, please have a look into the rule book, section A.1 <https://spl.robocup.org/downloads/>. 3. *Own Contribution:* Describe in detail the ‘research publishable’ significant advancements the applying team has made and is going to use at RoboCup 2022, in accordance with the rule book, section A.1 <https://spl.robocup.org/downloads/>. 4. *Past History:* provide game results in RoboCup Open competitions as well as main RoboCup competitions from 2018 onward. Include opponents and game scores from each competition in a table. State if the team plans to participate in any RoboCup Open competitions or friendlies prior to RoboCup 2022. 5. *Impact:* What is the impact of the team’s participation and research in RoboCup on (1) the SPL, (2) the team’s university/community? 6. *Video presentation:* Include a link to a video (maximum 5 minutes long, uploaded on the team’s web site or on some video server) that demonstrates the status of the team. The organizing committees use the video to determine the readiness of the team to compete effectively, and hence should focus on the team’s ability to play soccer. Teams who did not participate in the team competition at RoboCup 2019 or any challenge at RoboCup 2021 *must* include footage of at least one robot attempting to kick off and score (this footage must be captured as a single wide shot with no cuts). If robots from multiple teams are active in the footage (e.g., game footage), please include a textual overlay or additional document denoting which robots belong to the applying team for every scene. Videos of simulation contributions will also be accepted, but only when a real robot is unavailable. Preference will be given to teams that use real robots to show soccer skills in their video. 7. *Other:* Present any other information that you believe supports your application. If your application mentions more than one e-mail address, please specify which one should be used to contact your team regarding your application. Pre-Qualification Teams are given the chance to pre-qualify based on their performance at RoboCup 2019 and 2021. Teams will be pre-qualified for RoboCup 2022, if they submit the following original qualification document. Teams able to pre-qualify include: * B-Human * UNISABANA Herons SPL * rUNSWift * HULKs * Bembelbots * Berlin United- Nao TH * Nao Devils * HTWK Robots * UT Austin Villa The original qualification document must include: 1. *Team Information:* the team name, the team leader(s), and the university/company affiliation(s) of the team 2. *Code Usage:* Acknowledge the team’s use of any other team’s code (1) previously from 2017 to present and (2) anticipated at RoboCup 2020. If code is used from other teams, is this code integrated into a code base that is mainly designed by the applying team? If the applying team does not use any other team’s code, state so. For further details, please have a look into the rule book, section A.1 <https://spl.robocup.org/downloads/>. 3. *Own Contribution:* Describe in detail the ‘research publishable’ significant advancements the applying team has made and is going to use at RoboCup 2022, in accordance with the rule book, section A.1 <https://spl.robocup.org/downloads/>. 4. *TRR:* a link to a team research report describing their work for RoboCup 2019 or 2021 or both (which must be published in a publicly available location) 5. *Code Release:* a link to a public code release as detailed in the 2019 SPL rulebook If a joint 2019 team splits, only one team can be pre-qualified for 2022 (please, indicate which one). Qualification for Regional Opens Only Teams may also submit a short intent to participate in a regional open if they do not wish to participate in the 2022 RoboCup competition. Although teams may participate in regional opens without submitting this intent to participate, teams who submit an intent to participate and become qualified will be eligible for future special robot pricing. Special robot pricing for team competing in RoboCup Events are still being discussed. Updates about special prices will be announced as soon as offers and conditions are finalized. Teams must submit the following information by 15th of February 2022: (1) The team name, leader(s), and the university/company affiliation(s) of the team and (2) a short statement describing the status/progress of the team. A link to a short video showing robot soccer behaviours and/or game play (using robots or in simulation) may be included if available. Submission and Evaluation All applications with the (pre-)qualification material must be submitted by *15th of February 2022*, by email to rc-spl-tc(a)lists.robocup.org. Applications must not be sent to personal SPL TC/OC email addresses and must not contain video attachments. Note that applying serves as a statement of commitment to participate in the RoboCup 2022 SPL. The organizing committees are aware of the ongoing COVID situation and assume that all applications are subject to withdrawal due to COVID. Applications are not required to mention uncertainties related to COVID to avoid negative effects on future applications. We would rather encourage teams to plan optimistically and sign up with the possibility of withdrawing if situation requires it. For situations other than COVID: If you have doubts regarding the ability of your team to participate (due to funding, visas, etc.), please apply by the deadline but note this in your application. Declining to participate in any competition after the official early registration period has opened may negatively affect future applications (the later you decline, the worse it will affect future applications). Teams are encouraged to consider joint participation. Joint proposals will be judged on combined merit. Applications will be evaluated to consider a variety of components including: 1. Potential to play competitive games at RoboCup 2022 (demonstrated ability to play soccer, previous results, etc.) 2. Contributions (and potential contributions) to league (code releases/papers, active in organization, developing own code, etc.) 3. Diversity (region, team make-up, unique characteristics, etc.) Qualification decisions, including alternate lists, will be announced by 29th of February 2022. Robot Acquisition Teams who submit an intent to participate and become qualified will be eligible for potential future special robot pricing. Special robot pricing for team competing in RoboCup Events are still being discussed. Updates about special prices will be announced if offers and conditions are finalized. /RoboCup 2022 Standard Platform League Technical and Organizing Committees/

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[RC-Humanoid League Virtual Season] Next game day on Jan 23 starting at 3pm (CET)
by Alessandra Rossi 01 Feb '22

01 Feb '22

Dear Robocuppers, Next game day of the RC-Humanoid League Virtual Season will be on on Jan 23 starting at 3pm (CET). Games will be streaming on Twitch Field A in the following order: 1 Bit-Bots vs NUbots 3:00 pm CET 2 Starkit vs UTRA 3:30 pm CET 3 MRL-HSL vs ITAndroids 4:00 pm CET 4 CIT Brains vs 01. RFC Berlin 4:30 pm CET Have a look at the website for more information about the games, including previous games, scores, and so on. https://humanoid.robocup.org/hl-vs2022/humanoid-league-virtual-season-2021-… For checking the time zone differences, you can use websites such as worldtimebuddy Best regards, Alessandra Dr. Alessandra Rossi Assistant Professor PRISCA research lab Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy

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Pre-RoboCup 2022 (tomorrow)
by Arne Hasselbring 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

Dear teams, from January 27th to 29th between 12:00 and 15:00 UTC, the virtual Pre-RoboCup 2022 is taking place. This event shall promote and kick-off the upcoming RoboCup 2022. Each league presents an introduction to the league, rule book updates and some technical talk in a one-hour slot. The SPL's presentation is going to be tomorrow*, January 27th, from 13:00-14:00 UTC. In order to participate, you must register here to obtain the WebEx links and password: https://2022.robocup.org/pre-robocup/ Best regards, Arne Hasselbring SPL Organizing Committee * or today, depending on your location

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