RoboCup is an annual international robotics competition founded in 1996 by a group of university professors (including Hiroaki Kitano, Manuela M. Veloso, Itsuki Noda and Minoru Asada). The aim of the competition is to promote robotics and AI research by offering a publicly appealing – but formidable – challenge.
The name RoboCup is a contraction of the competition's full name, "Robot World Cup Initiative" (based on the FIFA World Cup), but there are many other areas of competition such as "RoboCupRescue", "RoboCup@Home" and "RoboCupJunior".
The official goal of the project is: "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."
RoboCup leagues
The contest currently has six major domains of competition, each with a number of leagues and sub-leagues. These include:
RoboCup Soccer Standard Platform League (formerly Four Legged League) Small Size League Middle Size League Simulation League 2D Soccer Simulation 3D Soccer Simulation Humanoid League RoboCup Rescue League Rescue Robot League Rescue Simulation League Rapidly Manufactured Robot Challenge (RMRC) for participants up to the age of 19. RoboCup@Home, which debuted in 2006, focuses on the introduction of autonomous robots to human society RoboCup@Home Open Platform League (formerly just RoboCup@Home) Robocup@Home Domestic Standard Platform League RoboCup@Home Social Standard Platform League RoboCup Logistics League, which debuted in 2012, is an application-driven league inspired by the industrial scenario of a smart factory RoboCup@Work, which debuted in 2016, "targets the use of robots in work-related scenarios" RoboCup Junior Soccer League OnStage (formerly Dance) League Rescue League Rescue CoSpace League
Each team is fully autonomous in all RoboCup leagues. Once the game starts, the only input from any human is from the referee.
RoboCup editions
Number Year Host city Host country Number of teams Number of countries Number of participants 1 RoboCup 1997 Nagoya 38 11 2 RoboCup 1998 Paris 63 19 3 RoboCup 1999 Stockholm 85 23 4 RoboCup 2000 Melbourne 110 19 5 RoboCup 2001 Seattle 141 22 6 RoboCup 2002 Fukuoka 197 29 7 RoboCup 2003 Padua 238 35 8 RoboCup 2004 Lisbon 345 37 9 RoboCup 2005 Osaka 387 36 10 RoboCup 2006 Bremen 440 35 11 RoboCup 2007 Atlanta 321 39 1,966 12 RoboCup 2008 Suzhou 373 35 13 RoboCup 2009 Graz 407 43 2,472 14 RoboCup 2010 Singapore 500 40 3,000 15 RoboCup 2011 Istanbul 451 40 2,691 16 RoboCup 2012 Mexico City 381 42 2,356 17 RoboCup 2013 Eindhoven 410 45 3,033 18 RoboCup 2014 João Pessoa 358 45 2,900 19 RoboCup 2015 Hefei 346 43 2,032 20 RoboCup 2016 Leipzig 404 45 3,500 21 RoboCup 2017 Nagoya 500 50 2,520 22 RoboCup 2018 Montreal 360402,345 23 RoboCup 2019 Sydney 335402,200 24 RoboCup 2021 Virtual 317432,129 25 RoboCup 2022 Bangkok 26 RoboCup 2023 Bordeaux 27 RoboCup 2024 Eindhoven 28 RoboCup 2025 Salvador 45 2,000 29 RoboCup 2026 Incheon 30 RoboCup 2027 Nuremberg
The formal RoboCup competition 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 was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The planned host location of Bordeaux went on to host in 2023.
RoboCup Asia-Pacific editions
Year Host city Host country Number of teams Number of countries Number of participants Website RoboCup Asia-Pacific 2017 Bangkok 130+ 25 1000+ RoboCup Asia-Pacific 2018 Kish Island Dubai RoboCup Asia-Pacific 2019Moscow RoboCup Asia-Pacific 2020Virtual RoboCup Asia-Pacific 2021Aichi Prefecture / Virtual RoboCup Asia-Pacific 2023Pyeongchang RoboCup Asia-Pacific 2024Qingdao RoboCup Asia-Pacific 2025Abu Dhabi
European RoboCupJunior Championship Year Host city Host country Number of teams Number of countries Number of participantsWebsite European RoboCupJunior Championship 2018 Pescara European RoboCupJunior Championship 2019 Hanover European RoboCupJunior Championship 2020 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemicEuropean RoboCupJunior Championship 2021 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemicEuropean RoboCupJunior Championship 2022Guimarães European RoboCupJunior Championship 2023VaraždinCroatiaEuropean RoboCupJunior Championship 2024HannoverEuropean RoboCupJunior Championship 2025Bari
RoboCup local events
2026 German Open in Köln
2025 German Open in Nuremberg Greece Open in Agrinio
2024 German open in Kassel
2023 German open
2021 RoboCup Kazakhstan, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan RoboCup Portugal Open, virtual RoboCup Russia Open, Tomsk, Russia RoboCup Brazil Open, virtual
2020 RoboCup Japan Open 2020, virtual RoboCup China Open 2020, virtual RoboCup Brazil Open 2020, virtual
Events were cancelled due to COVID-19
2019 RoboCup Portuguese Open 2019, Gondomar, Portugal RoboCup Brazil Open 2019, Rio Grande, Brazil RoboCup Asia Pacific 2019, Moscow, Russia RoboCup German Open 2019, Magdeburg, Germany RoboCup China Open 2019, Shaoxing, China
2018 RoboCup Portugal Open 2018, Torres Vedras, Portugal RoboCup Asia Pacific 2018, Kish Island, Iran RoboCup Iran Open 2018, Tehran, Iran RoboCup UAE 2018, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates RoboCup German Open 2018, Magdeburg, Germany
2017 RoboCup Portugal Open 2017, Coimbra, Portugal RoboCup Iran Open 2017, Tehran, Iran RoboCup German Open 2017, Magdeburg, Germany RoboCup Russia Open 2017, Tomsk, Russia RoboCup US Open 2017, Miami, United States RoboCup China Open 2017, Shaoxing, China
2016 RoboCup Portugal Open 2016, Bragança, Portugal RoboCup China Open 2016, Hefei, China RoboCup European Open 2016, Eindhoven, Netherlands
2015 RoboCup Portugal Open 2015, Vila Real, Portugal RoboCup China Open 2015, Guiyang, China RoboCup Iran Open 2015, Tehran, Iran GermanOpen 2015, Magdeburg, Germany
2014 RoboCup Portugal Open 2014, Espinho, Portugal RoboCup China Open 2014, Hefei, China RoboCup Iran Open 2014, Tehran, Iran RoboCup German Open, Magdeburg, Germany
2013 RoboCup Portugal Open 2013, Lisbon, Portugal RoboCup Iran Open 2013, Tehran, Iran RoboCup German Open, Magdeburg, Germany
2012 RoboCup Portugal Open 2012, Guimarães, Portugal RoboCup Dutch Open, Eindhoven, Netherlands RoboCup German Open, Magdeburg, Germany RoboCup Iran Open, Tehran, Iran RoboCup SSL North American Open, Vancouver, Canada
2011 RoboCup German Open, Magdeburg, Germany RoboCup Portugal Open, Lisbon, Portugal RoboCup Iran Open 2011, Tehran, Iran
2010 RoboCup Portugal Open, Leiria, Portugal Iran Open 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
See also Robot Botball FIRST BEST Robotics RobotCub Consortium, a humanoid robot project to study cognition via robotics
References
External links
RoboCup@Home league, aims to develop service and assistive robot technology with high relevance for future personal domestic applications.