Linz, Austria

What is the potential of robots to transform human interaction?

Another question might be can geeks twiddling with custom gear change the world? Though not quite FIFA, the European champion in robot football, the EUROBY, will be crowned in Linz. Though geeks fill the seats int he stands and on the bench, the undisputed stars are the robo-kickers that’ll be duking it out on the pitch, though their makers behind the stars are the ones who might be transforming science. As soon as the opening whistle sounds, the team processor takes command. A camera registers the players’ positions 120 times per second and forwards the data to the processor that, in turn, performs a split-second calculation of the next play and radios it to the robo-kickers. Even if this is all done with tongue firmly in cheek, the EUROBY will provide a worthy setting for enthusiastic support by devotees of this sport.

Robot football may seem at first glance like just a bunch of guys screwing around with gadgets, but the scientific insights gained thereby constitute the basis for future industrial applications—for instance, deploying intelligent robots in factories and hospitals. Robot football is a relatively new high-tech application that’s being pursued by R&D people in the fields of mechatronics, robotics, artificial intelligence and software technology, and the EUROBY aims to provide a fruitful setting for such interdisciplinary encounters. Scholars in the natural and social sciences will convene for addresses and discussions that shed light on many different aspects of robotics.

Mission Report

This meeting about electronics, mechanics and research sounds pretty sci-fi to me. Even if it's free entry, this event is a gathering for people suited to the job: technicians, researchers, people who study and work with electronics, developing software and building devices, the "robot", actually. I coyly entered the Linz city hall, this year's venue for the European Robot Soccer Championship. Several classes, different size pitches, and various specialties. The characters are the Robots and Programmers, with the expectation that in forty years the best robots will be able to beat humans on the pitch as well. With mechanical strength and computer brains, these robots acquire strategies independently. They study for every match and chang, altering and adjusting based on their challenger's responses. Kicking and guarding: the match's rhythm can be really slow or really fast, and injuries are frequent. The football and its recreational aspect here are a sort of a "good mask," because the festival is really an event for academics and research groups to gather together, confronting each other about technological development. I read about missions to Mars or fields infested by anti-personnel mines, the different places these robots can be used for tons of applications, including the battlefield. But here in Linz, on a super hot Sunday of June, it didn't pop up.
Giovanni Donadini, Agne Raceviciute