Free University of BerlinInstitute of Computer Science

AI Group

F-180 Team

FU-Fighters

Motivation to participate in RoboCup SmallSize (F180)

Robotic soccer is funNew benchmark problem for AI research Interdisciplinary researchFocus both on individual robots and the teamSmallSize league needs only limited resources

Competitions

RoboCup’99 in Stockholmfirst real games second place

European competition in Paderbornlive broadcast on German TV (WDR)inter league games (SmallSize & Mirosot)winner

Show games (Science Festival Bonn, Berlinale, CeBit)

Research issues

mechanicalfast, reliable robotskicking devices

electrical power supplylocal control second place

computer visionreal time object localisation and trackingcope with occlusions, changes of lighting, ...

behaviour controlindividual actions

obstacle avoidanceball handling

team playcommunication

Mechanics and electronics

Aluminum frame to protect the electronicsTwo individual DC-motors for differential drive Passive sphere for third point of supportShooting plate controlled by a third motorOn-board microcontroller Motorola HC05

Vision system

NTSC video camera (640x480 Pixel, 30fps)Searches and tracks colored objectsDetermines position of the ball, as well as position and orientation of all robotsPredicts positions in the next frame and investigates only small windows of the image

Behavior control

Reactive, layered system of sensors, behaviors, actuators within a time hierarchyHigher sensory levels aggregate informationHigher-level behaviors modulate/configure lower-level behaviorsthere is no explicit world modelfast reactions (reflexes) are possible

Behaviours

Level 1: drive to position, avoid obstaclesLevel 2: approach ball, kick, dribble, free the ball, ...Level 3: decide which robot should take initiativeLevel 4: passing, ... (to be implemented)

Level 5: strategy changes, ... (to be implemented)

Goal keeping behaviours

Radio link

Transceiver working at 433-434.5 MHz9600/19200 baudError tolerant transmissionPackets contain target speeds for the motorsLocal control of motor speed

Who built them ?

Our Stockholm‘99 team was composed of three researchers and seven students. Some students left the team, but we have also new members.

Upper row: Wolf Lindstrot, Prof. Dr. Raúl Rojas, Manuel de Melo, Dipl.-Inf. Sven Behnke, Oliver Tenchio.Lower row: Martin Sprengel, Dipl.-Inf. Bernhard Frötschl, Mark Simon, Peter Ackers, Andreas Schebesch. New team members: Lars Knipping, Jong-Gill Park, Jörg Solger, André Vratislavsky, Lars Wolter, Andrea Schuhmann, Kirill Koulechov

Building a team of robots is time consuming, but rewarding. One does not only learn about robotics, but also about teamwork and deadlines.

Logistics

curriculumstarted in spring ‘98seminarspractical lab work

labpermanent fieldcamera, computer, toolsaccess to university workshop

competitions10 persons and 6 robots went to Stockholm by carneed a truck to move the field

fundingno solid funding yetsupport from the universityshow gamesponsors (parts and some financial support)

Publications

•RoboCup'99 (F180) Team Description: FU-Fighters,

Team Descriptions RoboCup'99 Stockholm, pp. 48-52, 1999.

•Using hierarchical dynamical systems to control reactive behavior,

Proceedings IJCAI'99 - International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, The Third International Workshop onRoboCup, Stockholm, pp. 28-33, 1999.

•The Soul of a New Machine: The Soccer Robot Team of the FU Berlin,

Technical Report B-12/99, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, FU Berlin, 1999

Contact

Prof. Dr. Raúl Rojas, Sven Behnke, Bernhard FrötschlEmail: {rojas, behnke, froetsch}@inf.fu-berlin.de

Internet: http://www.inf.fu-berlin.de/~robocup

Phone.: +49 30 838 75 130 / 131 / 133 / 100, Fax: / 109Mail: FU Berlin, Institut für Informatik, Takustr. 9, 14195 Berlin, GermanySponsors

We thank Conrad Electronic, Faulhaber Motors, Siemens ElectroCom Postautomation and Lufthansa Systems Berlin for their material and financial support

Future plan: Omnidirectional local vision