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AROUND THE WORLD 2: RoboCup

Thirty-one countries on 333 teams competed at the weeklong RoboCup 2005 event in Osaka, Japan, last week.

The competition pitted each country's robots against each other in a soccer match. In the spirit of the game, "the coaches," or engineers of the robots, wore the same uniforms as their creations. Many on-lookers--including researchers--watched the games intensely.

A spokesperson from the International Federation of Football Association (FIFA) made a statement that, by the year 2050, a team of autonomous robots will compete against the World Cup of Human Soccer. The FIFA places robots with two legs in the humanoid category. The winner of the humanoid competition will take home a crystal trophy designed by Louis Vuitton.

Aibos, the robot dog developed by Sony, took the lead in the four-legged league.

Other competitions include RoboCup Rescue, in which robots show-off their search and rescue skills such as the speed and stability of maneuvering down stairs.

Germany will host the event next year in its city of Bremen.

--Written by Teresa Liao

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