Call for Applications for Participation
RoboCup 2015 Standard Platform League
www.tzi.de/spl
Friday 17th through Thursday 23th July 2015 (Hefei, China)
http://www.robocup2015.org
RoboCup 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 the use of an identical robot platform by all the teams. Participating researchers focus on algorithmic development for fully autonomous robots, i.e., robots that operate with no external control. The SPL at RoboCup 2015 will use any H21 or H25 version of the NAO humanoid robot manufactured by Aldebaran Robotics. The SPL robot soccer games at RoboCup 2015 will be played between teams of five robots on a 6m x 9m field.
The RoboCup 2015 SPL will host three main competitions: a team competition, a drop-in player competition, and 2-3 technical challenges. The RoboCup 2015 SPL will be able to host 20 teams which will compete in all three competitions, as well as some additional teams that will just compete in the drop-in player competition and the technical challenges. Participation in the drop-in player competition is required for all teams. Teams will be selected from the interested parties responding to this call.
The full rules of RoboCup 2014 SPL as well as a document outlining the major rules changes for RoboCup 2015 SPL (which will be incorporated into the RoboCup 2015 SPL rulebook in a more detailed form) are posted on the SPL website.
Qualification
All interested teams need to submit an up-to five pages original qualification document that includes:
- the team name
- the leader(s), the constitution (eg. 5 undergraduate students, 3 masters students, 1 professor), and the university/company affiliation(s) of the team
- the number of each type of NAO owned by the team (eg, intend to buy 6 H25 NAO v4s or currently have 5 H21 V3.3, etc)
- preference and willingness of the team to compete in all 3 SPL competitions or just the drop-in player competition and the technical challenges
- a statement acknowledging the teams use of any other team’s code (1) previously from 2013 to present and (2) currently. Address how you anticipate the team’s use of any other team’s code will change by RoboCup 2015 competition, if at all.
- a summary of the team’s participation and results in RoboCup Open competitions as well as main RoboCup competitions from 2012 onward (include opponents and game scores from each competition). State if the team plans to participate in any RoboCup Open competitions prior to RoboCup 2015.
- a statement regarding the impact of the team’s participation in RoboCup on (1) the SPL, (2) the team’s university/community
- a statement regarding why participating in RoboCup is important or useful for the team
- a statement of the team’s current RoboCup-related research and activities, as well as its recent RoboCup-related work and publications
Note that submitting an application serves as a statement of commitment to participate in the RoboCup 2015 SPL. Declining to participate after the official registration period has opened may negatively affect future applications (the later you decline, the worse it will affect future applications).
The written material must be complemented by a link to a video (maximum 5 min long, uploaded on the team’s web site or on some video server) that demonstrates the current status of the team. The video is used by the TC to determine the readiness of the team to compete effectively, and hence should focus on the team’s ability to play soccer. In cases where footage from multiple teams is shown (such as game footage), please include a textual overlay denoting which team is the applying team. Videos of simulation contributions will also be accepted, but only when real robots are unavailable. Preference will be given to teams that use real robots in their video.
Pre-Qualification
Teams that satisified the pre-qualification guidelines as set forth in the RoboCup 2014 rulebook will be pre-qualified for RoboCup 2015, if they submit the following original qualification document. Teams able to potentially pre-qualify include: Austrian Kangaroos, Berlin United, B-Human, HULKs, Nao Devils, Nao Team HTWK, and rUNSWift.
The original qualification document must include:
- the team name
- the leader(s), the constitution (eg. 5 undergraduate students, 3 masters students, 1 professor), and the university/company affiliation(s) of the team
- the number of each type of NAO owned by the team (eg, intend to buy 6 H25 NAO v4s or currently have 5 H21 V3.3, etc)
- preference and willingness of the team to compete in all 3 SPL competitions or just the drop-in player competition and the technical challenges
- a link to a team research report describing their work for RoboCup 2014 (must be posted in a publicly available location)
- For teams who reached the quarter-finals in the team competition, this team research report must include a link to publicly release code as detailed in the 2014 SPL rulebook
If a joint 2014 team splits, only one team can be pre-qualified for 2015 (please, indicate which one).
Submission and Evaluation
All applications with the (pre-)qualification material must be submitted by January 7, 2015, by email to rc–spl–tc@lists.robocup.org. Applications must not be sent to personal SPL TC/OC email addresses and must not contain video attachments.
Teams are encouraged to consider joint participation. Joint proposals will be judged on combined merit.
Qualification decisions will be announced by January 19th, 2015 (note, decisions are slightly delayed).
Robot Acquisition
Aldebaran Robotics has a special pricing package for teams who qualify for the RoboCup 2015 SPL Competition. A list of qualified teams will be sent to Aldebaran by the SPL Technical Committee after the qualification decisions have been announced, so teams may contact Aldebaran after that date to order robots if they choose.
Orders will have to be placed to Aldebaran before April 30th, 2015 to benefit from discounted prices.
Main Qualified Teams
Aldebaran agrees to deliver up to 6 RoboCup NAO (either new robots or replacement robots) per SPL Main Qualified Team at the negotiated price detailed below. Above this limit of 6 robots, any additional robots can be purchased at the regular list price applicable at the time of purchase.
Drop-In + Technical Challenge Qualified Teams
Aldebaran agrees to deliver up to 2 RoboCup NAO (either new robots or replacement robots) per SPL Drop-In + Technical Challenge Qualified Team at the negotiated price detailed below. Above this limit of 2 robots, any additional robots can be purchased at the regular list price applicable at the time of purchase.
NAO Version
Aldebaran agree to deliver the version V5 of NAO.
Price (excluding VAT)
- Price of Robots within the Limit Number: 3.200€ *
- Price of Robots above Limit Number: List Price *
- Charger: 190€
- Battery: 190€
- Full Nao V5 Robot replacement of a NAO V4 within the Limit Number: 2.750 € **
- Full Nao V5 Robot replacement of a NAO V3.3 within the Limit Number: 2.950 € **
- Full Nao V5 Robot replacement above Limit Number: not available
- 1 Year Warranty Extension for NAO V5: 700 €
- 1 Year Warranty Extension for NAO V4: 700 €
- 1 Year Warranty Extension for NAO V3.3 and previous versions: not available
- Other types of replacements (metal gears/arms/head…): not available
Repairs during the RoboCup 2015
- On NAO V5 and NAO V4: included in warranty
- On NAO V3.3: quotation on request ***
- On other versions: not available
* includes: 1 year warranty starting at initial shipping date – 1 charger and battery – does not include shipping
** includes: 1 year warranty starting at initial shipping date – 1 charger and battery – shipping of replacement robot – does not include shipping of replaced robot, shipping possible to local offices – Paris/ Boston/ Shanghai
*** Repair at reasonable price with quotation on request during RoboCup”Limit number” is 6 robots or replacements for the SPL Main Qualified and 2 for the SPL Drop-In.
RoboCup 2015 Standard Platform League Technical and Organizing Committees