December 2024 - RoboCup-worldwide

Last Call for Early-Bird Registration: Robotics Developer Masterclass – Spring Batch 2025
by Sonia W 30 Dec '24

30 Dec '24

Greetings all, This is a kind reminder that early bird registration for the Robotics Developer Masterclass <https://www.theconstruct.ai/robotics-developer/?utm_source=robocup_worldwid…>Spring Batch - 2025 is coming to a close on December 31st, 2024. - Name: Robotics Developer Masterclass - Class: Spring Batch - Program Start Date: March 3rd, 2025 - Registration link: roboticsdeveloper.ai <https://www.theconstruct.ai/robotics-developer/?utm_source=robocup_worldwid…> - Program Fee: €1000/month, with an *early. bird registration discount of €900/month* available until December 31st, 2024. The Robotics Developer Masterclass is a comprehensive online learning program designed to provide individuals starting from zero with the necessary skills and knowledge to pursue a career in robotics development. Below are some key details of the Masterclass: *Program Highlights:* - 6-Month Training Period: Divided into 6 phases, each focusing on developing specific, in-demand robotics skills through hands-on projects. - 3-Month Internship: Gain real-world experience with leading robotics companies, applying your skills in industry settings. - 3-Month Job Hunting Program: Receive step-by-step guidance, from resume building to interview preparation, to help you land your new career in robotics. - Hands-on Learning: Engage with both simulated and real robots to develop practical, actionable robotics skills. - Comprehensive Curriculum: Covers everything from fundamental programming techniques to advanced planning and control algorithms. - Robotics Portfolio: Showcase your work through a professional online portfolio, integrating all projects and code for potential employers to view. - LinkedIn Certificate: Earn a certificate to enhance your professional profile and demonstrate your newly acquired robotics expertise. *What you will learn:* - ROS1 and ROS 2 - C++ for Robotics - Python for Robotics - Linux for Robotics - Math for Robotics - Collaborative Software Development with Git - Robot Modeling with URDF - Robot Frame Transformations with TF ROS 2 - Create robot simulations with Gazebo (Ignition) - Robot Navigation with ROS 2 (Nav2) - Robot Perception - Object Manipulation - Build Robot Controllers (ros2_control) - Kinematics of Mobile Robots and Arm Robots - Robot Dynamics - Kalman Filters - Path Planning Algorithms - Program web interfaces for Robot Ap - Docker for Robotics - Automate Development Tasks with Jenkins - Continuous Integration (CI) - Design, Develop, and Present, from Zero, a Complete Robotics Project For more details please check roboticsdeveloper.ai <https://www.theconstruct.ai/robotics-developer/?utm_source=robocup_worldwid…> . If you have any questions or require further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us at info(a)theconstruct.ai. -- [image: Logo] <https://www.theconstruct.ai/> [image: Logo] Sonia Wang Masterclass Success Advisor | The Construct E: rjun(a)theconstruct.ai | theconstruct.ai [image: Banner] <https://www.theconstruct.ai/robotics-developer/?utm_source=email&utm_medium…>

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RoboCup official social media channels
by Maike Paetzel-Prüsmann 27 Dec '24

27 Dec '24

Hej RoboCuppers, one of the goals of the RoboCup Federation for 2025 is to increase our public outreach on social media. We would both like to get information out to the general public and inform them about robotics and AI research, but we would also like to connect with the scientific community outside of RoboCup more. To grow our social media presence, we need your help! Follow our accounts, like & share our posts with your own network. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robocup.org/ Instagram (new): https://www.instagram.com/robocup.official/ X: https://x.com/robocup_org LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/robocup-org YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@robocupFederation (new content planned for 2025!) We have just gotten started to revive the accounts and created new ones, and we have more content planned for 2025. So stay tuned, and thanks for following, liking and sharing our posts already - any engagement helps! Cheers Maike

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RoboCup SPL Call for Participation 2025
by Tom Ellis 17 Dec '24

17 Dec '24

Call for Applications for Participation RoboCup 2025 Standard Platform League spl.robocup.org<https://spl.robocup.org/> Tuesday 15th July through Monday 21th July 2025 Salvador, Brazil 2025.robocup.org<https://2025.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, RoboCupIndustrial, RoboCupJunior) involving mostly multi-robot systems. RoboCupSoccer 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 in the main competition while developing individual skills measured in various technical challenges. The SPL robot soccer team competition games at RoboCup 2025 will be played between teams of fully autonomous NAO robots. Participating teams may use V6, V5 or older versions of the NAO humanoid robot manufactured by Aldebaran<https://www.aldebaran.com/en/nao>. Teams should be able to play on a randomly assigned field within one hour. The RoboCup 2025 SPL will host a soccer team competition, several technical challenges and introduce longterm leaderboards, detailed below. The soccer team competition will consist of a number of games that is similar to recent years for most teams. The draft rule book for 2025 is available on on the downloads page<https://spl.robocup.org/downloads/#2025>. The league operates two divisions: Champions Cup (CC) and Challenge Shield (CS). Teams in the Champions Cup division will compete in matches with up to 7 robots per team. Teams in the Challenge Shield division will compete in matches with up to 5 robots per team. All teams are encouraged to compete in one or more challenges in addition to the main soccer competition. There will be several challenges in 2025 in addition to the main soccer team competition: · The ’KICKin & Rollin’ Challenge, a standard out-of-game technical challenge designed to encourage teams to develop the best way to kick a rolling ball. · An open research challenge will be held to showcase innovations that contribute to the growth, development, and improvement of the league, beyond the core competition objectives. · There is a planned cross-league challenge to be conducted with the cooperation of the humanoid-league, similar to the 2021 passing challenge, additional details to follow as they are finalised. · Starting in 2025, several long-term leaderboards will be introduced to track and compare team performances across key skills over multiple years. These leaderboards aim to motivate teams to improve in specific areas deemed valuable by the league and to compile a record of the top-performing components and skills. More details regarding the challenges are given in the rule book<https://spl.robocup.org/downloads/#2025> Joining the League The league is always ready to welcome new teams. If you are considering joining: the league has prepared information for you<https://spl.robocup.org/joining-robocup-spl/> to support you in your first steps. We encourage you to contact the organizing committees and other teams if you have questions. To assist in adoption of NAO 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 for V6 robots in the code released by participating teams. If you need access to the RoboCup NAOqi Image and the specific documentation, please write an email (mentioning your team affiliation and plans) to rc-spl-tc(a)lists.robocup.org<mailto:rc-spl-tc@lists.robocup.org>. Qualification All interested teams that are not pre-qualified must apply by sending an email to the Technical Committee (see below). A valid application must contain: 1. Team Description Paper: See below. The TDP must be attached as PDF file to the email. 2. Preference to compete in the Champions Cup or Challenge Shield: State whether you prefer to compete in CC or CS. If you prefer to compete in CS, please state if you would accept an assignment to CC to balance the competition. 3. 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 2024 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. 4. Robot purchase plans: State how many NAO robots your team plans to buy this year. Pre-Qualification Teams that finished in the top 3 of either the Champions Cup or Challenge Shield divisions or finished in the top 5 of the technical challenge at RoboCup 2024 are pre-qualified for RoboCup 2025, if they submit a valid application as detailed below. The following teams can make use of pre-qualification: · Bembelbots · B-Human · HTWK Robots · Nao Devils · RedbackBots · RoboEireann · R-ZWEI KICKERS · SPQR Team · WisTex United A valid application for pre-qualified teams must contain all of the content mentioned above, without the need to provide a video presentation. If a joint 2024 team splits, only one team can be pre-qualified for 2025 (please indicate which one). Team Description Paper Both regular and pre-qualified teams must submit a team description paper (TDP) attached as PDF file to their application email. For the TDP to be considered, it must: · be named according to the pattern SPL_2025_TDP_<TeamName>.pdf · be formatted according to the Springer LNCS author guidelines <https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-gu…> . · be no longer than 8 pages (including references). · be structured in the following sections with the specified headings: 1. Team Information: · team name (the one true spelling, considering capitalization, spaces, hyphens, etc.) · team leader(s) · team contact email address · team website URL (if available) · country of origin · university/company affiliation(s) of the team 2. Code Usage: Acknowledge the team’s use of any other team’s code (1) previously from 2020 to present and (2) anticipated at RoboCup 2025. 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/#2025>. 3. Own Contribution: Describe in detail the ‘research publishable’ significant advancements the applying team has made and is going to use at RoboCup 2025, in accordance with the rule book, section A.1<https://spl.robocup.org/downloads/#2025>. 4. Unpublished Results: Provide game results in RoboCup Regional Open competitions as well as main RoboCup competitions from 2020 onward that are not already published on the SPL website<https://spl.robocup.org/>. 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 2025. 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. Other: Present any other information that you believe supports your application. Please note that the TDP is not a peer-reviewed publication and will not appear in any collection apart from the RoboCup TDP archive<https://tdp.robocup.org/>. 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 2025 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 may be eligible for future special robot pricing. Special robot pricing for teams 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 17th of February 2025: (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 17th of February 2025, by email to rc-spl-tc(a)lists.robocup.org<mailto:rc-spl-tc@lists.robocup.org>. Please use a subject matching the pattern RoboCup 2025 Application <team name>. Applications must not be sent to personal SPL TC/OC email addresses and must not contain video attachments. By submitting your application, you grant the SPL committees the rights to publish the TDP and application video / code release link. Note that applying serves as a statement of commitment to participate in the RoboCup 2025 SPL. 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 email. 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 by criteria which include: 1. Potential to play competitive games at RoboCup 2025 (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.) Since 2023 the competition rules require all teams to release the source code for novel contributions. This ensures that all teams can learn from good solutions and all teams are driven to make improvements each year. More details regarding code releases are given in the rule book<https://spl.robocup.org/downloads/#2025>. All teams can expect to be required to publish a contribution. As part of the application phase teams will be assigned into the CC and CS divisions. Assignments will be judged based on previous performance and application material. The organizing committees will do their best to honor teams’ preferences. However, the necessity might arise to assign teams into divisions against their preference. All teams applying for CC are expected to be able to compete in CS. Teams will be notified during the application phase if they are assigned into a division against their preference Qualification decisions, including alternate lists, will be announced by 3rd of March 2025. 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. Tom Ellis, On behalf of the RoboCup 2025 Standard Platform League Technical and Organizing Committees

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RoboCup 2025 Small Size League Call for Participation
by Carla Cosenza 16 Dec '24

16 Dec '24

Hello! The Small Size League committee is glad to invite you to participate in the RoboCup 2025! Below you can find important information about the competition and qualification. Location and dates RoboCup Brazil 2025 Small Size League July 15-21, 2025 https://2025.robocup.org/ About RoboCup RoboCup is an international scientific initiative with the goal to advance the state of the art of autonomous robots. When established in 1997, the original mission was to field a team of robots capable of winning against the human soccer World Cup champions by 2050. About the Small Size League The RoboCup Small Size League is a part of the RoboCup Research Federation focused on multi-agent coordination and control. Teams currently compete in 11 vs. 11 soccer matches (6 vs. 6 in Div. B). The robots must fit within an 18 cm diameter circle and must be no higher than 15 cm. The robots play soccer with an orange golf ball on a green carpeted field that is about 12 m long by 9 m wide. About the qualification To qualify for the competition, each team must submit a Team Description Paper and a video by February 11, 2025. More information on the qualification requirements and processes are located on the website<https://ssl.robocup.org/robocup-2025-qualification/>. Please direct all inquiries to the Small Size League Organizing Committee: rc-ssl-oc(a)lists.robocup.org<mailto:rc-ssl-oc@lists.robocup.org> Thank you! Carla Cosenza RoboCup Small Size League | Organizing Committee

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RoboCup Federation agreements with Booster Robotics, Fourier Robotics, and Unitree Robotics
by Flavio Tonidandel 16 Dec '24

16 Dec '24

The RoboCup Federation (RCF) is pleased to announce the signing of three-year agreements with Booster Robotics, Fourier Robotics, and Unitree Robotics, designating all three companies as official "RoboCup League Sponsors." The companies will provide special offers for teams to lease or purchase their cutting-edge humanoid robot platforms to participate in the RoboCup International event or major Super-Regional or official RoboCup Regional Competitions. For more information and the manifestation of interest in purchasing humanoid robots from these companies, please check the following website: http://robotprogram.robocup.org/ We are looking forward to having our best teams competing with cutting-edge humanoid robots in the next RoboCup 2025, to be held in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. RoboCup Federation Esta mensagem, juntamente com qualquer outra informa??o anexada, ? confidencial e protegida por lei. Somente os seus destinat?rios est?o autorizados a us?-la. Se voc? n?o for o destinat?rio, por favor, informe o remetente e, em seguida, apague a mensagem, observando que n?o h? autoriza??o para usar, copiar, armazenar, encaminhar, imprimir ou tomar qualquer a??o baseada no seu conte?do.

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Call for Participation: ARM Challenge 2025
by Jose Avendano Arbelaez 16 Dec '24

16 Dec '24

Call for Participation 2025 RoboCup Autonomous Robot Manipulation (ARM) Challenge https://arm.robocup.org/<https://arm.robocup.org/> The RoboCup Autonomous Manipulation Challenge is accepting registrations for the 2025 season. This is a great opportunity to learn about robot manipulation, get a certificate to demonstrate your skills, and win a chance to attend RoboCup 2025 in Brazil! This year the challenge has new objects and environments. Prizes Certificate of Achievement for demonstrating skills in programming, control, simulation, and perception of robotic pick-and-place and grasping applications in dynamic environments. Travel Support for Top 4 International Teams 2025 (Up to 1250 USD) Important Dates November 2024 - Registration Opens January 10th - New game environment revealed. February 12th - Live Technical Support and Q&A session April 27th - Submission deadline for the qualification round May 5th - Announcement of teams qualified for finals July 15-21 - In-person finals with UR5e Robot (RoboCup 2025 Brasil) Registration All teams must pre-register using the online form on the website. Submission Participating teams will complete a submission form providing links to their code/files and a video of their algorithm in action. Questions? roboticsarena(a)mathworks.com<mailto:roboticsarena@mathworks.com> Jose Avendano Senior Robotics Engineer The MathWorks

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[jobs] faculty positions at Constructor University
by Andreas Birk 16 Dec '24

16 Dec '24

Dear all, Constructor University (previously Jacobs University) in Bremen, Germany [1] is expanding its activities in Computer Science and related areas including in Machine Intelligence. In addition to being very reseach active in this are, the School of Computer Science and Engineering has among others a study program "Robotics and Intelligent Systems (RIS)". There are at the moment multiple open positions that can be of interest for candidates with a background that includes aspects of robotics and intelligent systems: (a) Professor of Computer Science (Software Engineering) [2] areas of interest include continuous integration and continues delivery for intelligent systems and robotics; cyber-physical systems (b) Assistant Professor of Computer Science (Data Science and Machine Learning) [3] areas of interest include neural networks and cognitive computing; data mining and predictive modeling (c) Assistant Professor of Computer Science (Scalable Data Processing Systems) [4] areas of interest include remote access and edge computing; spatial-temporal data management, e.g., Geo-Information-Systems (GIS) (d) Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (Modern Electrical Engineering) [5] areas of interest include automation and control systems Please use the links provided below to find out more about the positions. Also, applications must be submitted via the links provided below. Best regards, Andreas Birk [1] <https://constructor.university/> [2] <https://constructoruniversity.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Careers/job/Bre…> [3] <https://constructoruniversity.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Careers/job/Bre…> [4] <https://constructoruniversity.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Careers/job/Bre…> [5] <https://constructoruniversity.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Careers/job/Bre…> -- ================================================================================ Prof. Dr. Andreas Birk ================================================================================ Constructor University Robotics Group Campus Ring 1, 28759 Bremen, Germany https://robotics.constructor.university/ ================================================================================ Commercial registry: Amtsgericht Bremen, HRB 18117 Chairs of the Executive Board (Vorsitzende der Geschäftsführung): Dr. Stanislav Protasov (President/Präsident), Oznur Bell (Chancellor/Kanzlerin) Managing Director (Geschäftsführung): Prof. Dr. Thomas Auf der Heyde Chairman of the Board of Governors (Aufsichtsratsvorsitzender): Dr. Serg Bell ================================================================================

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Re: [PlanetKR] Call for Nominations: 2025 ACM/SIGAI Autonomous Agents Research Award
by Sean McWillie 14 Dec '24

14 Dec '24

First I'm gone stack my flo' (And then what?) Then I'm gone stack some mo' (And then what?) Close shop then I do my count Hide the rest of the yams at my auntie house(And then what?) Get fresh and jump in one of dem cars (Yeah) Hit the club and get one of dem broads (And then what?) It's a wrap, we on the way to the house; by 3:45 I be kickin' her out Patty cake, patty cake, microwave Suckas make a square, goddamn I'm paid (ha ha) I'm so cool, but I'm so hot, and I'm, I'm so fly, and you, you're so not (nope) Show me what you're workin' with just like that (like that) Turn around, bend over, bring it back (bring it back) Snowman and Mannie Fresh bring it back (bring it back) It's Mannie Fresh and Snowman, it's a wrap Strapped up in the club, yeah I'm so crazy These other rappers actors like Patrick Swayze (ha ha) I tried to tell 'em but these niggas ain't hearin' me Mossberg pump I'm ridin' shotgun literally (daaamn) Live from the projects, you know what it is Ay, Snowman, (what up), can I get a ad lib? (yeahhhhhhh) Get the club crunk, can't take that from me Ain't dropped yet, still got Lil' Jon money I see you lookin', with you lookin' ass Catch Snowman in the kitchen with his cookin' ass (cheaa) I'm so clean, but I'm, I'm so grimey (alright) So dirty but yet, I'm so shiny My nigga Kinky B told me finish my meal Def Jam, seven figures, we can finish the deal (yeaaah) Some say I lucked up; I call it perfect timing (yeah) Nigga I can't lose; the whole city's behind me I got million dollar dreams and federal nightmares (ay) We pop Cris' my nigga, and still drink beers (dat's riiight) What did you expect man, I came from nothin' (nothin) Real street nigga and wouldn't change for nothin' (nah) Got my niggas out the hood, it's such a wonderful feeling (chea) Three car garage with the twelve foot ceilings (ay) It oughta be a crime just to feel this good I swear it oughta be a crime just to be this hood (ayy) First I'm gone stack my flo'(And then what?) Then I'm gone stack some mo' (And then what?) Close shop then I do my count Hide the rest of the yams at my auntie house (And then what?) Get fresh and jump in one of dem cars (Yeah) Hit the club and get one of dem broads (And then what?) It's a wrap, we on the way to the house; by 3:45 I be kickin' her out --- Sean McWillie Engineer sean(a)seanmcwillie.com Need an _urgent_ consult? just call.seanmcwillie.com > On Dec 14, 2024, at 14:16, Nicholas Mattei via PlanetKR <planetkr(a)kr.org> wrote: > > [Apologies for Multiple Postings] > > Nominations are solicited for the 2025 ACM SIGAI Autonomous Agents Research Award. This award is made for excellence in research in the area of autonomous agents. It is intended to recognize researchers in autonomous agents whose current work is an important influence on the field. The award is an official ACM award, funded by an endowment created by ACM SIGAI from the proceeds of previous Autonomous Agents conferences. The recipient of the award will receive a monetary prize and a certificate, and will be invited to present a plenary talk at the AAMAS 2025 conference. > How to Nominate > Anyone can make a nomination. Nominations should be made by filling out the below google form, and should consist of a short (< 1 page) statement that emphasizes not only the research contributions that the individual has made that merit the award but also how the individual’s current work is an important influence on the field. > NOTE: a candidate can only be considered for the award if they are explicitly nominated. If you believe that someone deserves the award, then NOMINATE THEM — don’t assume that somebody else will! > For any questions please contact Edith Elkind (Award Chair, <mailto:eelkind@gmail.com>edith.elkind(a)northwestern.edu <mailto:edith.elkind@northwestern.edu>) or Nicholas Mattei (SIGAI Vice Chair, nsmattei(a)gmail.com <mailto:nsmattei@gmail.com>). > Nomination Link: https://forms.gle/jud5hniSWtkrENqZ7 <https://forms.gle/jud5hniSWtkrENqZ7> > Important Dates > 15 January 2025 — Deadline for nominations > 15 February 2025 — Announcement of winner > 19-23 May 2025 — AAMAS-2025 conference in Detroit, Michigan, USA > > -- > Nicholas Mattei > Associate Professor, Tulane University > nsmattei(a)tulane.edu <mailto:nsmattei@tulane.edu> | www.nickmattei.net <http://www.nickmattei.net/> > Stanley Thomas Hall | 305B > +1 504 865 5782 > Department of Computer Science > Tulane University > 6823 St Charles Ave > New Orleans, LA 70118 > > _______________________________________________ > PlanetKR mailing list > PlanetKR(a)kr.org > https://kr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/planetkr

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Call for Nominations: 2025 ACM/SIGAI Autonomous Agents Research Award
by Nicholas Mattei 13 Dec '24

13 Dec '24

[Apologies for Multiple Postings] Nominations are solicited for the 2025 ACM SIGAI Autonomous Agents Research Award. This award is made for excellence in research in the area of autonomous agents. It is intended to recognize researchers in autonomous agents whose current work is an important influence on the field. The award is an official ACM award, funded by an endowment created by ACM SIGAI from the proceeds of previous Autonomous Agents conferences. The recipient of the award will receive a monetary prize and a certificate, and will be invited to present a plenary talk at the AAMAS 2025 conference. How to Nominate Anyone can make a nomination. Nominations should be made by filling out the below google form, and should consist of a short (< 1 page) statement that emphasizes not only the research contributions that the individual has made that merit the award but also how the individual’s current work is an important influence on the field. NOTE: a candidate can only be considered for the award if they are explicitly nominated. If you believe that someone deserves the award, then NOMINATE THEM — don’t assume that somebody else will! For any questions please contact Edith Elkind (Award Chair, <eelkind(a)gmail.com>edith.elkind(a)northwestern.edu) or Nicholas Mattei (SIGAI Vice Chair, nsmattei(a)gmail.com). Nomination Link: https://forms.gle/jud5hniSWtkrENqZ7 <https://forms.gle/jud5hniSWtkrENqZ7> Important Dates - 15 January 2025 — Deadline for nominations - 15 February 2025 — Announcement of winner - 19-23 May 2025 — AAMAS-2025 conference in Detroit, Michigan, USA -- *Nicholas Mattei* Associate Professor, Tulane University nsmattei(a)tulane.edu | www.nickmattei.net Stanley Thomas Hall | 305B +1 504 865 5782 Department of Computer Science Tulane University 6823 St Charles Ave New Orleans, LA 70118

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2nd Call for Participation for RoboCup Humanoid League – New Submission Deadline
by Reinaldo A. C. Bianchi 11 Dec '24

11 Dec '24

* 2nd Call for Participation – New Submission Deadlines * RoboCup 2025 Humanoid Soccer Competition https://humanoid.robocup.org/ July 15 - 21, 2025, Salvador, Brazil =========================================================== The RoboCup Humanoid League invites teams to apply for participation at the RoboCup 2025 Humanoid Soccer Competition in Salvador, Brazil. The Humanoid League will host competitions in the following categories: * KidSize: 40 - 100cm robot height (FIFA size 1 ball) * AdultSize: 100 - 200cm robot height (FIFA size 5 ball) For more detailed class definitions, please refer to the humanoid league home page at https://humanoid.robocup.org/ Teams do not need to provide a full robot team to apply for competing in the Humanoid Soccer Competition. The qualifying round of Drop-In games will be played with only one robot per team. Teams that cannot provide a full team of robots (four robots in KidSize and two in AdultSize) will be grouped to form a playable team for the main tournament games. Teams are also encouraged to form and apply as joint teams. Joint proposals will be judged on their combined merit. In case of a sufficient number of qualified teams, the sub-leagues (KidSize and/or AdultSize) will be divided into League A and League B. Teams are seeded into the leagues based on the results of an initial round of Drop-In games. For the qualification process, teams must provide the following material: 1) Robot Video --------------------------------------- Teams need to provide a video of their robot demonstrating the robots' autonomous soccer playing skills. The recommended skills needed for qualification are: * localization of unknown ball position, * walking ability towards the ball, * robot positioning at the ball for kicking, * kicking the ball towards the goal, * ability of getting up autonomously from a fall (KidSize only) We encourage teams to include in the video more complex and intelligent behavior such as demonstrating localization, and robots playing in a game, recordings from actual soccer matches are admissible. If possible, please provide footage that demonstrates the robot behavior without wires attached. The qualification video must be supplied as a link via YouTube. The maximum duration of the video must not exceed 5 minutes. The qualifying team is responsible to ensure that the video adheres to YouTube's TOS (especially in regard to music copyright) to prevent the video from being blocked for the reviewers. Teams that do not provide a qualification video or a viewable video will not be qualified! 2) Software Description --------------------------------------- During the registration process, a form will be provided to submit details about the algorithms used or anticipated to be used for the participation in the 2025 competition. Algorithms shall be described in such detail that they can be reproduced by other teams. If software from other teams or standard algorithms are used, references need to be included. If the algorithm has been adapted to be used in the competition, those deviations need to be described in appropriate details. The form will include questions in the following areas: * Walking * Vision * Localization * Team Communication * Behavior * Contributions to the RoboCup community, e.g. software releases, paper publications, provision of league infrastructure or data sets Responses to the questions are expected to reflect the current or anticipated status of the software during the RoboCup 2025 competition. If the software has not changed or no changes are anticipated to be made until the competition, teams may copy & paste a response from previously submitted material. 3) Extended Abstract --------------------------------------- A two-page extended abstract must be submitted. For teams which have previously participated in the Humanoid League, the extended abstract needs to: * include lessons learned from the participation in previous RoboCup competitions * highlight major problems that the team is trying to solve for the upcoming competition * outline the plans for the major changes that the teams anticipate to have implemented by the RoboCup 2025 competition * describe the implementation status of the changes planned by the time of submitting the application For teams which have never participated in the RoboCup Humanoid League, the Extended Abstract needs to pitch the scientific aspects of their humanoid robotic system and highlight their research interests. The Extended Abstract is limited to 2 pages maximum and must be submitted in PDF format. Extended Abstracts are designed to highlight the changes and scientific developments since the last RoboCup. Thus, we expect the usage of material from previous TDPs or Extended Abstracts to be minimal. If used, they need to be cited appropriately. Submissions of last year's Extended Abstract will be desk-rejected. The Extended Abstract must follow the LNCS format which can be downloaded from https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-gu…. Teams that do to follow the LNCS formatting and style guidelines will not be qualified. No exceptions to this rule will be made. 4) Robot Specification --------------------------------------- Regardless of the kid or adult size competition, a one-page specification (PDF) must be provided for each different type of humanoid robot used by the team that includes the following: * Robot picture * Robot name * Height of the robot * Weight of the robot * Walking speed in cm/s * Number of degrees of freedom and type of motors on each kinematic chain of the robot * Type of sensors used (incl. type of camera(s) and specific manufacturer part number (e.g. “6-DoF IMU” is NOT an acceptable description)) * Computing unit(s) * Materials (e.g. Torso aluminum, legs and arms CFRP) * Electronics (e.g. CM730 for communicating with servos) * Battery (e.g. 3S1P 2200mAh LiPo) * Open Source link if applicable * Other specs 5) Letter of Commitment --------------------------------------- A one-page letter addressed to the RoboCup Humanoid League Technical Committee including the following: * a statement committing to participate in the RoboCup 2025 Humanoid League competition, * a statement committing to make a person with sufficient knowledge of the rules available as referee during the competition. The letter must be signed (by hand or using a digital signature software as Adobe or DocuSign) by the team leader and submitted either as a JPG, PNG or PDF file. The TC may include the fulfillment of the statement of commitment of participation as well as the performance of the team's referee in previous RoboCup competitions into consideration for qualification. Each application to the Humanoid Soccer Competition will be reviewed by two members of the Technical Committee and two other teams applying to the Humanoid Soccer Competition. The combined reviewing score will decide whether a team qualifies for participation. Reviewing other team's material is mandatory for teams that want to participate in the Humanoid Soccer Competition. Failing to provide an adequate review by the provided deadline will have consequences for the team’s own qualification status. 6) Rules --------------------------------------- The current version of the rules may be found here at the Humanoid League website: https://humanoid.robocup.org/materials/rules/. We expect the final version of the 2025 rules to be published in early spring 2025. 7) Registration --------------------------------------- The following information is required for registration: * Team name * URL of the team's home page * Name of team leader or team contact person * E-mail address of team leader or contact person * Postal address of the team, team leader or contact person * Competition category: Humanoid Soccer Competition KidSize or AdultSize Please note that teams applying for participation in several categories must submit individual application material for each class, and pay the appropriate registration fee for each category. At least one team member must register on each team. Furthermore, teams in different categories must be able to compete, and guarantee to have members acting as referees available independently and at the same time. 8) Plagiarism --------------------------------------- Plagiarism, loosely the unattributed use of other peoples' words, code, and ideas is not tolerated in the RoboCup community. See the point "Publishing Ethics" at https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-gu… for a more detailed description. The teams and team members that plagiarize another peoples' work and present it as their own will be disqualified. For a first offense, the team and team members will be banned from RoboCup competition for two years (usually the current and next year). Harsher penalties will be applied to repeat offenders or extremely serious cases of plagiarism. A team may be disqualified at any time for plagiarism, even after the competition has started. RoboCup will not reimburse teams for any expenses related to their disqualification. 9) Online Submission --------------------------------------- All qualification material must be submitted online at: https://submission.robocuphumanoid.com/login Please be informed that the submission system has been updated and migrated to a new server. Consequently, the system has been reset, and all account information has been deleted. Therefore, it is necessary for all users to create new accounts on the system. 10) Important Dates --------------------------------------- Humanoid Soccer Competition * Submission system open: December 10th, 2024 * Submission deadline: January 31th, 2025 * Team Review Period: February 3rd - 7th, 2025 * Announcement of qualified teams: February 21th, 2025 11) Publication --------------------------------------- Please note that after the announcement of the qualified teams the qualified teams submitted material will be made publicly available on the Humanoid League website. Teams applying for participation, therefore, implicitly grant the right of publication of their qualification material to the Humanoid League. 12) Visa Process --------------------------------------- If you are a citizen of a country that needs a Visa for traveling to the Brazil, please start the VISA process as soon as you receive your notification of qualification. If you are not sure if you're eligible for a VISA-exempt, please consult the official website of the Brazilian government for information, at https://www.gov.br/mre/pt-br/assuntos/portal-consular/vistos/informacoes-so… (Information is in English below each paragraph in Portuguese). For more information about the humanoid league, please refer to the humanoid league home page at https://humanoid.robocup.org/ and join the humanoid league mailing list at: https://lists.robocup.org/listinfo/robocup-humanoid With best regards, Technical Committee of RoboCup Humanoid League 2025 Esta mensagem, juntamente com qualquer outra informação anexada, é confidencial e protegida por lei. Somente os seus destinatários estão autorizados a usá-la. Se você não for o destinatário, por favor, informe o remetente e, em seguida, apague a mensagem, observando que não há autorização para usar, copiar, armazenar, encaminhar, imprimir ou tomar qualquer ação baseada no seu conteúdo.

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Invite to official RoboCup Discord server
by Maike Paetzel-Prüsmann 09 Dec '24

09 Dec '24

Dear RoboCup Community, we have set up an official RoboCup Discord server for our community now! Here is the invite link: https://discord.gg/dcFgqFTeCy The aim of the server is not to replace the individual Discord servers and messaging boards that the different leagues created - the idea is to complement them and create an easier possibility to communicate and build bridges between the leagues going forward. It should be a place for you to share your publications, discuss questions related to the next RoboCup events, and get connected with RoboCuppers across leagues. Anyone who is currently participating or interested in RoboCup, is planning to participate in the future or is a RoboCup alumni is welcome to join. Once on the server, please read the rules in the #rules channel and use the "Channels & Roles" on top of the channel list to assign yourself your roles related to the league(s) and region you participate in to see relevant content. Cheers Maike

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[meetings] [news] The 2nd Earth Rover Challenge -- ICRA 2025 Competition
by Xuesu Xiao 07 Dec '24

07 Dec '24

Dear roboticists, do you want to compete with human gamers and AI agents in an around-the-world real life Mario Kart game? The Earth Rover Challenge is back at ICRA 2025!!! It is a first of its kind "AI vs Humans" distributed robotics competition where human gamers and AI models compete to solve real-world navigation challenges across the world, where your policies will be deployed in realistic goal-oriented navigation scenarios, potentially without known maps. As a participant, team, you'll get: -- standardized training data (>7k hours of real-world teleop driving data collected from 20+ cities) -- sponsored robot hardware, (2 x Earth Rover Mini (https://shop.frodobots.com/) for your own testing) -- access to global fleet of sidewalk robots for real-world evaluation of your models (in 20+ cities across 6 continents) -- compute resources assistance (8x H100s shared among teams) -- well-tested SDK (https://github.com/frodobots-org/earth-rovers-sdk) to connect your model to the robots In addition: -- no requirement to physically attend ICRA in Atlanta to compete (as your models will be hosted in the cloud while remotely controlling robots in various cities) -- anonymous entry allowed (i.e., only competition co-organizers will know your team's identity - mainly needed to coordinate testing trials before competition) For more context, this is what happened at the 1st Earth Rover Challenge held at IROS 2024 in Abu Dhabi (https://x.com/frodobots/status/1850426432142573937). Please fill out this form (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfu6HbS1-ppK5FVARtwDwTYs7FcH5SRL4x…) by January 10 2025 to express your interest in participating, and we'll be in touch with more info. Thanks, ERC2025 Organizing Committee -------- Competition Website: https://sites.google.com/view/the-earth-rover-challenge/ Organizing Committee Email: erc2025-organizers(a)googlegroups.com Organizing Team: FrodoBots (Michael Cho, Niresh Dravin, Santiago Pravisani), Google DeepMind (Jie Tan, Dhruv Shah, Ted Xiao, Wenhao Yu, Tingnan Zhang, Zhuo Xu), National University of Singapore (David Hsu), Georgia Tech (Naoki Yokoyama), George Mason University (Xuesu Xiao), Meta (Joanne Truong) --------- Thanks Xuesu ----------------------- Xuesu Xiao, Ph.D. -- Assistant Professor Department of Computer Science George Mason University xiao(a)gmu.edu https://cs.gmu.edu/~xiao/ https://robotixx.cs.gmu.edu/

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RoboCup German Open 2025 - Call for participation - Major Leagues
by Ferrein, Alexander Antoine 04 Dec '24

04 Dec '24

RoboCup German Open 2025 Call for Participation - Major Leagues https://robocup.de/german-open NürnbergMesse, Frankenhalle, Germany The 22nd RoboCup German Open 2025 will take place from March 12-16 in Nuremberg. Nuremberg, the second largest city in Bavaria, combines medieval charm with modern vitality. The city is known for its iconic castle, half-timbered houses and old city walls and has great historical significance. The city flourishes as a cultural and innovative centre where history and modern life coexist in a wonderful way. Every regional and international Major team is cordially invited to take part in the event. ---------------------------- RoboCup Major Leagues (international teams) ———————————-------------- After the team setup on March 12th, the competitions will take place from 13 to 16 March 2025 in the following main leagues: • RoboCupSoccer Standard Platform League • RoboCupSoccer Humanoid League (KidSize and AdultSize) • RoboCupSoccer Small Size League • RoboCupRescue Robot League • RoboCupIndustrial Logistics League • RoboCupIndustrial @Work League • RoboCup@Home Open Platform League Registration opens *** December 15, 2024 *** Registration deadline *** January 31st, 2025 *** Late registration deadline (team members only) *** February 28th, 2025 *** When registration opens, visit https://register.robocup.de to register your RoboCup Major League team. Details on the registration (fee, rules, travel) are available on the website. Teams are advised to make their own accommodation arrangements as early as possible, as places are limited before March 13. ---------------------------- RoboCup Junior (German teams) —————————————————----------------------- From March 13-16, 2025 the final event of the German RoboCupJunior Championship will be held at RoboCup German Open 2025 in Nuremberg. The best teams that have qualified in the eight previous German qualifying tournaments will take part. The best German Junior teams in the 2025 German Junior Final will qualify for RoboCup 2025 in Brazil and for the European RoboCupJunior Competition 2025 in Italy. ----------------------------- Organization Committee ———————————————————————------------------------ • Oskar von Stryk (General Chair) • Stefan May (Local Chair) • Alexander Ferrein (German RoboCup Committee, Spokesperson Major) The Major Leagues Organizing Committee: • Heinrich Mellmann (Standard Platform League) • Maike Paetzel-Prüsmann (Humanoid League) • Nicolai Ommer (Small Size League) • Johannes Pellenz, Stefan May, Thomas Sander (Rescue Robot League & RMRC) • Sven Wachsmuth (@Home League) • Alexander Ferrein (Logistics League) • Christoph Steup (@Work League) ---------------------------- Co-located Events ———————————————————————————--------------------------- Parallel to the RoboCup German Open 2025 the first German Robotics Conference organized by the newly established Robotics Institute Germany (RIG) will take place. The conference will bring together the leading German researchers in AI-based robotics. Also in parallel, the Freizeit Messe will take place, which is one of Germany's largest leisure and lifestyle fairs. It attracts about 70.000 visitors each year. Many participants from both events are expected to visit RoboCup German Open 2025. ---------------------------- Important dates -------------------------------------------------------- • 2024-12-15 Major teams early registration starts • 2025-01-31 Major teams registration deadline, team member registration deadline • 2025-02-28 Late registration deadline (team members only) • 2025-03-12 Set-up day Major League teams • 2025-03-13 to 16 Competition days • 2025-03-16 Major and Junior finals The event is open to the public during all days from 9 am to 5 pm ----------------------------- Contact --------------------------------------------------------------- Please contact germanopen(a)robocup.de for any questions. See you all at the 22nd RoboCup German Open 2025! Best regards, German RoboCup Committee ---------------------------------- Acknowledgment -------------------------------------------------- The RoboCup German Open 2025 are supported by the German Federal Ministry for Research and Education (BMBF) within the Robotics Institute Germany under grant number 16ME1001.

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[meetings] [news] The 4th Benchmark for Autonomous Robot Navigation (BARN) Challenge -- ICRA 2025 Competition
by Xuesu Xiao 03 Dec '24

03 Dec '24

Submission Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfYFw_BVg-7lpXNVxQIX_xQKpFrU2m4jrX… Competition Website: https://cs.gmu.edu/~xiao/Research/BARN_Challenge/BARN_Challenge25.html Participation Instructions: https://github.com/Daffan/nav-competition-icra2022 Lessons Learned from The BARN Challenge 2024: https://cs.gmu.edu/~xiao/papers/barn24_report.pdf Lessons Learned from The BARN Challenge 2023: https://cs.gmu.edu/~xiao/papers/barn23_report.pdf Lessons Learned from The BARN Challenge 2022: https://cs.gmu.edu/~xiao/papers/barn22_report.pdf Dear roboticists, are you interested in agile robot navigation in highly constrained spaces with a lot of obstacles around, e.g., cluttered households or after-disaster scenarios? Do you think mobile robot navigation is mostly a solved problem? Are you looking for a hands-on project for your robotics class, but may not have (sufficient) robot platforms for your students? If your answer is yes to any of the above questions, we sincerely invite you to participate in The 4th BARN Challenge at ICRA 2025 (https://cs.gmu.edu/~xiao/Research/BARN_Challenge/BARN_Challenge25.html)! The BARN Challenge aims at evaluating state-of-the-art autonomous navigation systems to move robots through highly constrained environments in a safe and efficient manner. The task is to navigate a standardized Clearpath Jackal robot from a predefined start to a goal location as quickly as possible without any collision. The challenge will take place both in the simulated BARN dataset and in physical obstacle courses at ICRA 2025. 1. The competition task is designing ground navigation systems to navigate through all 300 BARN environments (https://cs.gmu.edu/~xiao/Research/BARN/BARN.html) and physical obstacle courses constructed at ICRA 2025 as fast as possible without collision. 2. The 300 BARN environments can be the training set for learning-based methods, or to design classical approaches in. During the simulation competition, we will generate another 50 unseen environments unavailable to the participants before the competition. 3. We will standardize a Jackal robot in the Gazebo simulation, including a Hokuyo 2D LiDAR, motor controller of 2m/s max speed, etc. 4. Participants can use any approaches to tackle the navigation problem, such as using classical sampling-based or optimization-based planners, end-to-end learning, or hybrid approaches. We will provide baselines for reference. 5. A standardized scoring system is provided on the website. 6. We will invite the top teams in simulation to compete in the real world. The team who achieves the fastest collision-free navigation in the physical obstacle courses wins. If you are interested in participating, please submit your navigation system at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfYFw_BVg-7lpXNVxQIX_xQKpFrU2m4jrX… Co-Organizers: Xuesu Xiao (George Mason University) Zifan Xu (UT Austin) Aniket Datar (George Mason University) Saad Abdul Ghani (George Mason University) Peter Stone (UT Austin / Sony AI) Sponsor: Clearpath Robotics, https://clearpathrobotics.com/ Thanks Xuesu ----------------------- Xuesu Xiao, Ph.D. -- Assistant Professor Department of Computer Science George Mason University xiao(a)gmu.edu https://cs.gmu.edu/~xiao/ https://robotixx.cs.gmu.edu/

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