Dutch teams compete in first humanoid robot games in China

Student teams from TU Eindhoven and the University of Amsterdam (UvA) are participating in the first humanoid robot games in China this weekend. The universities are part of a total of 280 teams from 16 countries competing at the event, where robots resembling the human body take part in activities such as football, boxing, and tasks like cleaning up and sorting medicine. The event will continue for three days.

The competitions were created with the idea that robots should be able to beat humans by 2050. “But it is not about the result. We do this to bring progress in technology, and that is the target. We want to develop knowledge with the goal of putting it to good use,” said René van de Molengraft, head of TU Eindhoven’s robotics department.

Human-like robots, for example, could assist the elderly at home by climbing stairs or fetching items from cupboards. “If a robot can play football, you can imagine other useful applications as well.”

The teams already began their participation in a large football tournament for humanoid robots in the last few days. The TU Eindhoven team, called Tech United, was eliminated in the group stage in its first appearance in the competition, while the UvA team, called the Dutch Nao Team, reached the quarterfinals. “We are playing seven matches against teams from China, Germany, Australia, and Singapore. The German team is very good, but we will do our best,” said team leader Harold Ruiter. The Dutch Nao Team hopes to reach the final on August 17.

The Chinese organization provided the teams in the quarter finals with new robots that can be altered to the student's wishes with the software. "The robots are more technically advanced than we are used to," Ruiter said to AD. "All kinds of roads are opening up for us. We have to work for several nights to get everything working correctly, but thus far, it has worked out well for us."

The Chinese organization provided the quarterfinal teams with new robots whose software the students could customize. “The robots are more technically advanced than we are used to,” Ruiter told AD. “All kinds of possibilities are opening up for us. We have to work for several nights to get everything functioning properly, but so far it has gone well.”

The quarterfinals will be played in the Olympic Stadium, which usually hosts skating events. “It is close to sold out,” Ruiter said. “We have competed in tournaments in the past, but on this scale... we have never experienced anything like it.”

The new competition was a step up for Tech United. The Eindhoven team previously competed in a league for wheeled football robots, where they were world champions for several years. “We played great in the first game, but we lost. We drew the second game. We didn’t get to play the third match due to hardware problems. It was a unique experience to lose again,” Van de Molengraft said.

The early exit was expected; the team mainly came to gain experience. “We wanted to see where we stand. At next year’s World Cup in South Korea, we aim to compete in the mid-tier, and the following year, in the top ranks,” Van de Molengraft said.

According to him, the team’s past participation in the wheeled league is an advantage. “We have a lot of experience with teamwork, passing, positioning, and moving into open space. In recent years, other teams were mainly focused on just getting their robots to move and stay upright. Last year, all the robots would rush to the ball at the same time, almost like under-7 kids. Each robot had a person following it to catch it. That’s no longer the case.”

Joost Weerheim, part of the Tech United team, was impressed by China's progress. "I think right now if they are not already the world leader, they are very, very quickly becoming it."

To play football, humanoid robots need to be programmed to maintain their balance. “It is quite a large step to have legs instead of wheels. Robots on wheels cannot fall over. With two legs, that can always happen if your center of gravity isn’t above your feet. You have to constantly adjust your balance. As humans, we do that unconsciously.”

Robots, however, still have to calculate every movement. They must, for example, plan each shot and learn to respond to sensors during the kick. “They are less dynamic than humans.”