Robots compete for alternative football cup

While the spectacle of 22 men running around on a pitch a focus for many at the moment, it is robots, competing in the RoboCup 2006, also in Germany, currently gripping the attention of roughly 20,000 visitors and 2,500 participants. Teams from 36 countries have flocked to Br...

While the spectacle of 22 men running around on a pitch a focus for many at the moment, it is robots, competing in the RoboCup 2006, also in Germany, currently gripping the attention of roughly 20,000 visitors and 2,500 participants.

Teams from 36 countries have flocked to Bremen in Germany to compete for the coveted robotic world championships trophy. They will compete in 11 different leagues, which encompass categories such as humanoid and four-legged machines.

'After 50 years of research within artificial intelligence, it has been determined that these things can be better researched using soccer than the game of chess. We have advanced a fair bit for this 10th year of RoboCup,' says Hans-Dieter Burkhard, Vice President of the RoboCup Federation. The tournament has received some funding from the German Ministry of Education and Research.

The organisers of the tournament believe that by 2050, the winners of the RoboCup will be able to beat the human World Cup champions.

Countries

Germany