RoboCup is an annual international robotics competition proposed and founded in 1997. The aim is to promote robotics and AI research, by offering a publicly appealing, but formidable challenge.
“Competition pushes advances in technologies. What we learn from robots playing soccer or navigating a maze can be applied to industry and help us solve difficult real-world problems,” according to Professor Maurice Pagnucco, Head of the School of Computer Science and Engineering at UNSW.
The name RoboCup is a contraction of the competition's full name, "Robot Soccer World Cup", but there are many other stages of the competition such as "RoboCupRescue", "RoboCup@Home" and "RoboCupJunior". In 2016, the world's competition was held in Leipzig, Germany. RoboCup 2017 will be held in Nagoya, Japan.
The official goal of the project:
"By the middle of the 21st century, a team of fully autonomous humanoid robot soccer players shall win a soccer game, complying with the official rules of FIFA, against the winner of the most recent World Cup."
The contest currently has six major competition domains, each with a number of leagues and subleagues:
RoboCup Soccer
Standard Platform League (formerly Four Legged League)
Small Size League
Middle Size League
Simulation League
2D Soccer Simulation
3D Soccer Simulation | Soccer Simulation 3D League Homepage
Mixed Reality Competition
Humanoid League Humanoid League homepage
RoboCup Rescue Rescue Leagues Homepage
Rescue Robot League
Rescue Simulation League
RoboCup@Home, which debuted in 2006, and focuses on the introduction of autonomous robots to human society
RoboCup@Work, which debuted in 2016, and "targets the use of robots in work-related scenarios".
RoboCup Logistics League is part of the RoboCup Major Leagues since 2012 and focuses on flexible solutions for industrial production using self-organizing robots.
RoboCupJunior
Soccer Challenge
Dance Challenge
Rescue Challenge
Dance Theatre Challenge
Each team is fully autonomous in all RoboCup leagues. Once the game starts, the only input from any human is from the referee.
The formal RoboCup was preceded by the (often unacknowledged) first International Micro Robot World Cup Soccer Tournament (MIROSOT) held by KAIST in Taejon, Korea, in November 1996. This was won by an American team from Newton Labs, and the competition was shown on CNN.
RoboCup China Open 2016 Hefei, China
RoboCup European Open 2016 Eindhoven, Nederlands
RoboCup China Open 2015 Guiyang, China
IranOpen 2015 Tehran, Iran
GermanOpen 2015 Magdeburg, Germany
RoboCup China Open 2014 Hefei, China
IranOpen 2014 Tehran, Iran
Robocup German Open, Magdeburg, Germany
Iran Open 2013, Tehran, Iran
Robocup German Open, Magdeburg, Germany
Robocup Dutch Open, Eindhoven, Netherlands
Robocup German Open, Magdeburg, Germany
Robocup Iran Open, Tehran, Iran
Robocup SSL North American Open, Vancouver, Canada
Robocup German Open, Magdeburg, Germany
IranOpen 2011 Tehran, Iran
IranOpen 2010 Tehran, Iran
Latin America & Brazil Open 2010, São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil
Robocup Mediterranean Open 2010, Rome, Italy
Robocup German Open (unofficial all-European tournament), Magdeburg, Germany
AUT cup 2010 Tehran, Iran
Australia
rUNSWift - University of New South Wales, Sydney
NUbots - University of Newcastle
UTS Unleashed! - University of Technology Sydney
UTS-USTC WrightEagle Unleashed! - University of Technology Sydney and University of Science and Technology of China
Karachi Koalas - University of Technology Sydney and Institute of Business Administration, Pakistan
RobotAssist - University of Technology Sydney, Centre for Autonomous Systems, Sydney
Austria
Mostly Harmless–Graz University of Technology
Austrian-Kangaroos Vienna University of Technology, University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien
RRT-Team University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria
Brazil
ITANDROIDS - ITA
Bahia Robotics Team, Bahia State University
Warthog Robotics - University of São Paulo at São Carlos
RoboFEI – Centro Universitário da FEI
NIPAR - UTFPR
Positronics - Colégio Santa Emília
Canada
Thunderbots - University of British Columbia
Chile
UChile Homebreakers - Universidad de Chile
UChile Robotics Team (SPL) - Universidad de Chile
China
TJArk - Tongji University
ZjuNlict - Zhejiang University
WrightEagle - University of Science and Technology of China
AUA - Anhui University of Architecture
Colombia
STOx's - Universidad Santo Tomás
Croatia
Hrvatski robotički savez
Udruga Robofreak
Finland
Botnia–Vaasa University of Applied Sciences
France
Rhoban Football Club - LaBRI - Bordeaux University
The Three Musketeers - Versailles Saint-Quentin University - Paris8 University
CPE Lyon
Germany
Nao-Devils, TU Dortmund
AllemaniACs RoboCup Team, RWTH Aachen University
AutonOHM, Technische Hochschule Nürnberg
Nao-Team HTWK, HTWK-Leipzig
b-it bots, Bonn-Rhine-Sieg University of Applied Sciences
B-Human - University of Bremen
Brainstormers - University of Freiburg (abandoned)
C-PALB–CJD High School Königswinter
Carologistics - RWTH Aachen University & FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences
Carpe Noctem - University of Kassel
LUHbots - Leibniz Universität Hannover
NimbRo - University of Bonn
Virtual Werder 3D - University of Bremen
Bembelbots - University of Frankfurt
FRA-UNIted - Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences
FUmanoids - Freie Universität Berlin
GETbot - Universität Paderborn
magmaOffenburg - Hochschule Offenburg
Darmstadt Dribblers - Technische Universität Darmstadt
Team Hector Darmstadt - Technische Universität Darmstadt
NaoTH - Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
WF Wolves - Ostfalia - Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften
Hamburg Bit-Bots - Universität Hamburg
Hamburg Ultra Legendary Kickers HULKs - Technische Universität Hamburg Harburg
BavarianBendingUnits - Technische Universität München, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt
Tigers Mannheim - Duale Hochschule Baden Württemberg
Greece
Kouretes - Technical University of Crete
P.A.N.D.O.R.A. - Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Hungary
Rescube - Private (Datastart Ltd.)
India
AcYut - BITS Pilani, Pilani
KGP Kubs- Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur
Indonesia
EROS, Politeknik Elektronika Negeri Surabaya, [EEPIS Robotic Research Center, Indonesia]
Iran
Farzanegan1, - Farzanegan HighSchool, Tehran, Iran
Aryan,- Islamic Azad University Of Malard
Nexus,[Nexus, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran]
MarliK - University of Guilan, Marlik Institute of Innovation and Technology, Rasht, Iran
VRU Robotics Group, [VRU, Vali-E-Asr University of Rafsanjan, Real Rescue Robot Team, Rafsanjan, Iran]
Cyrus,[Cyrus, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran]
Sina,[Sina, AbouAliSina Educational Complex, Tehran, Iran]
S.O.S, [Amirkabir University of Technology, Rescue Simulation Group, Tehran, Iran]
EmJa ETERNALS, [IJHS's RC lab, Robotics and Simulation Group, Tehran, Iran]
S2PLUS, [Salam Dibaji Robocup Laboratory, Simulation Group, Tehran]
Positron, [Positron Simulation Group]
ResQuake Robotic Team, [K.N.Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran]
IUST Robotics Community Teams, [Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran]
MRL Teams, [Mechatronics Research Laboratory, Qazvin, Iran]
DANESH, [danesh, Danesh HighSchool, Tehran, Iran]
XeneX RoboCup Team, Tehran RoboCup Inc
Parsian Team – Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic)
Impossibles Team–Sharif University of Technology
Persian Gulf RoboCup Team - Azad University
BraveCircles - SheikhBahaee University
PersianGulf3D - Shiraz Payam Noor University
paydar - [ paydar robotics group]
Persia Humanoid Team - Islamic Azad University Of Isfahan (Khurasgan Branch)
LegenDary - University of Guilan, Shahid Beheshti University
Israel
RoBIU - Bar-Ilan University
Italy
dInfoBots–University of Palermo
SPQR Team, Sapienza University of Rome
Japan
JEAP - Osaka University
eR@sers - Tamagawa University
South Korea
KUDOS - Kookmin University
Mexico
Borregos RoboCup Teams - Monterrey Tech
Cyberlords - Universidad La Salle
Eagle Knights - Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México
Golem - IIMAS, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Leones - Colegio Cristóbal Colón De la Salle
Pumas - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Robótica UP - Universidad Panamericana Campus Bonaterra
TecRams ITESM-CEM Aibo Team
Netherlands
Tech United Eindhoven - TU/e
Dutch Robotics - 3TU
BORG - University of Groningen
Dutch Nao Team - Universiteit van Amsterdam
Swarmlab - Maastricht University
Robot Sports
Falcons
Small Size Holland - Saxion University of Applied Sciences
Pakistan
SAVIOUR, Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology
Karachi Koalas - Institute of Business Administration, Pakistan and University of Technology, Sydney
NUST - National University of Sciences and Technology
Portugal
ISocRob / UInstitute for Systems and Robotics, Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon TU
CAMBADA - IEETA / University of Aveiro
MinhoTeam - LAR / University of Minho
Romania
Oxsy - Sibiu
Spain
Grupo de Investigación de Ingeniería Aplicada (GIIA), University of Murcia.
SPIteam, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Rovira i Virgili University and University of Leon
Los Hidalgos, Polytechnic University of Valencia and University of Murcia
Artificial Intelligence Research Group, Pompeu Fabra University
Thailand
BART LAB Rescue Team - Mahidol University, Bangkok
Plasma-Z, Plasma-RX, Plasma-MK - Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok
SKUBA - Kasetsart University, Bangkok
iRAProbot - king mongkut's university of technology north bangkok
Turkey
Yildiz, Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul
Cerberus, Bogazici University, Istanbul
RoboAKUT, Bogazici University, Istanbul
beeStanbul, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul
Northern Cyprus
NEUIslanders, Near East University, Nicosia
United Kingdom
Bold Hearts [1] - University of Hertfordshire
Christ's College Finchley
Edinferno - University of Edinburgh
Plymouth Humanoids
Warwick Mobile Robotics - University of Warwick
Switzerland
Z-Knipsers - ETH Zürich
Team Solidus - Höhere Fachschule für Technik Mittelland
United States
CMDragons - Carnegie Mellon University
ISI, University of Southern California
Northern Bites - Bowdoin College
RoboCats - Ohio University Athens, Ohio
RoboJackets – Georgia Institute of Technology
RoboPatriots - George Mason University
UT Austin Villa - The University of Texas at Austin
RoMeLa - Virginia Tech
UPennalizers - University of Pennsylvania
RFC Cambridge - Harvard and MIT
Media articles
No feel for the ball, on the 2006 RoboCup in Bremen, at signandsight.com
RoboCup Atlanta Report, the 2007 RoboCup in Atlanta, at SaySport
RoboCup Istanbul Report, The RoboCup 2011 report by BBC
