Event: The UBC Thunderbots student team will show autonomous soccer-playing robots prior to international competition in Turkey.
Date: Wednesday, June 29, 10 a.m. -12 p.m.
Location: MacLeod Building, Room 242
2356 Main Mall, UBC Vancouver campus
For a map, visit: www.maps.ubc.ca?312
Visuals: Teams of five robots play soccer against one another on an indoor test field with no direct human control. [See previous media coverage at: www.ubcrobocup.com/media]
The Thunderbots – a UBC interdisciplinary student engineering team – will unveil brand new technology for their soccer-playing robots before heading off to Istanbul to go “mano a mano” with teams from around the world.
The Thunderbots will be representing UBC and Canada in the small-size league at the Robot World Cup (RoboCup) taking place July 5-11. RoboCup is the world’s largest robotics and artificial intelligence event with upwards of 3,000 participants from more than 40 countries.
The Thunderbots have developed new generation robots that feature multidirectional kickers, an innovative technology never seen before in the league. Student innovations such as these help to advance research in automation, computer learning and machine vision.
“Our team has historically ranked highly at competitions,” says Bahador Moosavi, Thunderbots founding member and student advisor. “We recently finished first at the 2011 North American Open in January, and expect to be a top contender this July, aiming to place in the top six of about 30 teams.”
Using student-developed artificial intelligence software, the autonomous robots are able to adapt to various soccer plays and maneuvers of the opposition. They charge along at speeds of 2.5 metres per second and are powerful enough to kick a golf ball at 35 kilometres per hour. They weigh 2.3 kilograms (5 lbs.) and measure 18 centimetres (7 inches) in diameter by 15 centimetres (6 inches) in height.
Please contact ErinRose Handy at 604.822.1524 or Amy Leson, Thunderbots Administrative Captain, Tel at: 778-554-0245, robocup@ece.ubc.ca.
