July 2008 Atlanta, Georgia Georgia Institute of Technology RoboCup Junior July 2008 Atlanta, Georgia Georgia Institute of Technology

What is RoboCup Junior? A project-oriented educational initiative that sponsors local, regional, and international robotic events for young students up through age 19. The focus is on education. It provides an exciting introduction to the field of robotics.

Background It began in 1998 as a demonstration with the RoboCup in Paris. The first RoboCup Junior Tournament was held in Melbourne, Australia in 2000. There were 25 teams from 3 countries In 2006, there were 240 teams selected from 22 countries held in Bremen, Germany.

Background Continued RoboCup Junior is a new way to develop technical abilities through hands-on experiences with electronics, hardware and software, and highly motivating opportunity to learn about teamwork while sharing technology with friends.

Why RoboCup Junior Stands Apart It is focused more on education than on competition. The challenges remain the same from year to year to provide a scaffolding learning environment. The challenges – soccer, rescue, and dance- are familiar; spectators can watch and understand without needing explanation of complicated rules.

Standing Apart Continued It delves more deeply into computer science and programming do to its emphasis on autonomous robots. It sits at the entry level of the international RoboCup initiative, which is strongly committed to education and involvement of young people in technology.

Challenges RoboCup Junior offers several challenges: Soccer: 2 on 2 teams of robots play games with an electronic ball in an enclosed field Rescue : Robots race to identify victims lost in re-created disaster scenarios. Dance: One or more robots wear costumes and move creatively to music. rcj2003_movie.mov

Soccer For the soccer challenge, you must use an electronic soccer ball which emits infra-red light and greyscale mat which covers the floor of the soccer field. 2-on-2 teams of autonomous mobile robots play in a highly dynamic environment, tracking a special light-emitting ball in an enclosed, landmarked field.

Rescue Robots identify victims within a re-created disaster scenarios The scenarios vary in complexity from line-following on a flat surface to negotiating paths through obstacles on uneven terrain

Dance One or more robots come together with music, dressed in costume and moving in creative harmony Points are added for creativity and if the human partner is dressed in costume and dancing with the robot.

Get Involved How to get involved: Find Mrs. Wilson (room 802) or Ms. Fox (room 107) to get more details and put your teams together. We would like a couple teams to compete this year from CEC. Decide what type of robot your team wants to build (Dance, Soccer or Rescue). Have fun building your robot.

More Information Visit the RoboCup Junior website for more details on how to form teams, specific rules for each challenge, and event information. http://www.robocupjunior.org