'Query: Minimum Ball Velocity To Sever Human Head?'

Robot Footballers Square Off with Sights on World Cup

from AFP

OSAKA, Japan - Robots from 31 countries went head to metallic head Wednesday in football and other competitions with a goal of triumphing against human soccer champions - after 50 years or so of practice.

Researchers in ties and people in uniforms matching their machines stood alongside the robots which vied for titles in the weeklong RoboCup 2005 being held in the western Japanese city of Osaka.

"By 2050, a team of fully autonomous humanoid robot soccer players shall win a soccer game, complying with the official FIFA rules, against the winner of the most recent World Cup of Human Soccer," a statement by organizers said.

The soccer division has five leagues, with biped robots kicking the ball in the humanoid league. Aibos, the robot dog developed by Japanese electronics giant Sony, took to the pitch in the four-legged league.

The robot that wins the humanoid competition will take home a crystal cup designed by French luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton.

Among other competitions, teams face off in RoboCup Rescue in which they show the search and rescue skills of their machines such as the speed and stability of going down stairs.

A total of 333 teams from 31 countries are taking part in the annual event, which was organized by researchers and sponsored by Japanese government agencies and private-sector companies.
Companies used the opportunity to showcase their robots on the sidelines. Japan's Citizen Watch displayed solar-powered micro-robots playing soccer.