Do soccer robots already exist?

During this World Cup period, we asked ourselves the million-euro question: What will football look like in the future? The subject is not simple. However, what is happening around us today can give us some good answers. Besides, is this fantasized future that far away? Do soccer robots exist today? Discover the future of football with us.

RoboKeeper: The rampart of cages

This robot is nothing other than... the best goalkeeper in the world. Since 2007, individuals and football professionals have been trying to get past this wall. Messi and Neymar tried it. Numerous videos have been released in which RoboKeeper stops shots from some of the best players on the planet. But how does this robot achieve this feat?

Developed in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute in Dortmund, this goalkeeper 2.0 is equipped with two cameras that can record up to 90 images per second. If the color of the ball contrasts enough with its environment, these two “eyes” allow it to follow each movement of the ball.

Software will then quickly calculate the trajectory of the bullet since the shots can easily reach 100 km/h! All this calculation, from sending the ball to the action of the robot, must not exceed 0.3 seconds to hope to avoid a goal. At this speed, RoboKeeper's reaction is estimated to be around 20 times faster than a Formula 1 car.

Let us remember, however, that this robot does not play in the same category as our usual players. The shooting point is 9 meters away, unlike the regulatory 11 meters. In addition, the goals are 2 x 4 meters, compared to the 2.5 x 7.3 meters of a real football goal.

The goalkeeper is on an axis that cannot move from left to right. It is therefore mandatory that it be the size of the goals, otherwise balls too far from the center could not be stopped. This robot is above all an attraction. To avoid frustrating testers, it is possible to adapt the difficulty over seven levels, so that a lucky few still emerge victorious.

Mini Cheetah: a guardian capable of learning

This robotic version of a cheetah is also capable of stopping shots. This is the subject of a study carried out by the University of Berkeley, California. The results are also very conclusive. After their tests, Mini Cheetah stops 87.5% of shots thrown at it.

It is important to note that, unlike RoboKeeper, this four-legged guardian is completely free to move. It is in fact not linked to any axis, hence the diversity of possible movements to stop the ball: it can take a side step, dive or even jump while landing on its legs. This whole new range of possible movements has presented researchers with numerous challenges. First of all, he had to be taught how to move, and especially how to use the most efficient movement to reach the ball in an extremely short period of time.

So the scientists taught him all these techniques in a simulation. Using reinforcement learning, the robot was able to train in a virtual universe until it was able to adapt its movements to the trajectories of the balloons.

Once this experience was acquired, the real robot was put into operation to obtain more than suitable results.

This experience has shown that these challenges can be met. Researchers are now working on shooting training for this four-legged robot.

RoboCup: The world cup of football robots

What if I told you that the robot version of the Football World Cup already exists? Originally from Japan, this competition has existed since 1996! Organizers predict that, by 2050, robots will face real humans on the turf.

This championship takes place all over the world, and we are lucky that it will take place in France in 2023! If the subject interests you and you are near Bordeaux, do not hesitate to go and see this extraordinary sport.

In more than 20 years, the RoboCup has diversified a lot. It has become a show in which more than 3,000 robotics enthusiasts from 45 countries come together through different competitions.

The most popular competition today is still football. Within this sport, there are three different categories: the humanoid league, the rolling robot league and the simulation category.

Diversification has allowed the RoboCup to see further than the world of football. You can also attend rescue competitions, where robots will try to rescue a person as quickly as possible. There is also a competition for the development of household companion robots, or even industrial robots!

This place is above all a crossroads of ideas and innovations in the field. A large part of the events are dedicated to young people, organizing their own competitions for them in order to highlight these future robotics talents.

In this World Cup year, we have seen that football played by humans still has a bright future ahead of it. But recent progress shows that what might have been thought impossible a few years ago may no longer be so far away. And you, who will you be for at the next RoboCup?

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Sources:

RoboKeeper. Presentation of RoboKeeper [online] . Available at: www.robokeeper.com (11/25/2022).

ARXIV. Creating a Dynamic Quadrupedal Robotic Goalkeeper with Reinforcement Learning . 2210.04435. ARXI. 10/10/2022

RoboCup. What is this ? [online] . Available on: www.robocup.fr (11/25/2022).