[ad_1]
Roberto Figueiredo is a grasp’s pupil on the College of Aveiro. He’s a member of the Bold Hearts RoboCup workforce which competes within the Humanoid KidSize soccer league. He’s at present the native consultant for the Junior Rescue Simulation. We spoke to Roberto about his RoboCup journey, from the junior to the most important leagues, and his expertise of RoboCup occasions.
When was your first RoboCup occasion and which competitors did you participate in?
I began in 2016 within the Junior leagues with my highschool and I took half within the rescue simulation competitors (though I initially joined the on-stage competitors). This primary occasion truly occurred in Portugal, and it was just like a workshop. We certified to go to the world cup in rescue simulation, in Leipzig, Germany, and we ended up in second place. That was very nice, and it was my first contact with RoboCup, and with robotics usually. I’d been working with electronics prior to now, however simulation gave me a little bit of an introduction to the extra theoretical features of robotics, and to AI basically. Rescue simulation makes you consider methods to make the robots impartial and never manually managed by people.
Roberto’s first RoboCup in 2016, Leipzig, pictured with the Singapore workforce celebrating after the finals.
May you inform us in regards to the subsequent RoboCup occasions that you just took half in?
In 2017 we certified to go to Nagoya, Japan, which was not simply a tremendous RoboCup, however a tremendous journey. That’s one other advantage of robotics, you get to fulfill numerous new folks in new international locations. We did fairly properly on this competitors as properly, I feel we reached fifth place.
After that we went to European RoboCup Junior in Italy. The next yr was my final RoboCup as a junior, which was in Sydney. That was additionally an fascinating occasion and I received to speak a bit extra with the majors and perceive how their groups labored. By this level, I had gained extra expertise, and I felt able to get entangled with a serious league RoboCup workforce.
There’s a large hole between the junior and main leagues. Once I joined my workforce (the Daring Hearts), a lot of the workforce have been PhDs and I used to be only a second yr bachelor’s pupil so it was fairly arduous to choose up all of the information. Nonetheless, if you’re persistent sufficient and you have an interest in, and enthusiastic about, robotics you’ll get the cling of it and also you’ll be taught by trial and error.
EuroRoboCup 2022 in Portugal. Roberto (kneeling in picture) was a part of the organising committee.
When was your first competitors with the workforce within the main league?
My first competitors was truly final yr, in Thailand. We didn’t carry out as we want to, nonetheless, there may be rather more to RoboCup than simply the competitors – it’s now extra of a scientific and knowledge-sharing occasion, it’s distinctive. Simply this yr, in Bordeaux, we had an issue with our robots. Each time we disconnected the ethernet cable, the robotic simply stopped enjoying, and we couldn’t work out what was taking place. I requested one other workforce that was utilizing the identical software program – they’d found out the issue earlier than and so they informed us the way to clear up it. I don’t suppose you’ll see that in different competitions. Each workforce has a joint goal which is making science progress, making friendships, and making different groups higher by sharing their information. That’s actually distinctive.
How did you be part of the Daring Hearts workforce?
I made a decision to do my grasp’s within the UK (on the College of Hertfordshire), to expertise a unique nation and a unique type of schooling. Once I joined, I knew there was a workforce so I used to be already trying ahead to becoming a member of. After a few years of labor, we lastly received to go to a contest as a workforce. It’s been a tremendous time and an enormous studying expertise.
What’s your position on the workforce?
In our workforce, everybody does a little bit of all the things. We nonetheless have numerous issues to resolve – on each the {hardware} and software program aspect. All of us at present are pc scientists so it’s a bit extra of a battle to work on the {hardware} aspect. So, I do a little bit of all the things, each AI and non-AI associated issues. For instance, I’ve executed some 3d modelling for the robots, and I’m at present engaged on the balancing drawback. All of us work collectively on the issues which is superb since you get to see a little bit of all the things and be taught from everybody. Robotics is a really multidisciplinary discipline. You get to study all types of subjects: mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, machine studying, coding basically.
The Daring Hearts’ qualification video for this yr’s RoboCup competitors
May you inform us about this yr’s competitors (which came about in Bordeaux)?
This yr we have been much more ready than final yr, once we’d simply come again from COVID, and all of our skilled members had lately left the workforce, on account of ending their PhDs and beginning work. Making a profitable robotic workforce is a large integration drawback. There are such a lot of items that have to go collectively and work completely for the robots to perform, and if one fails it seems like your system isn’t doing something. We received strolling working completely this yr, we had imaginative and prescient working properly too, and we had a steady resolution tree, and we have been in a position to hearken to the controller (which is sort of a referee and passes on details about fouls, sport begin and stops and many others.). Nonetheless, we had some bugs within the resolution tree that made all the things crumble and we spent numerous time making an attempt to debug it. This occurs to numerous groups. Nonetheless, you’ll be able to nonetheless respect the work and progress of what they’ve executed.
RoboCup 2023 in Bordeaux. Roberto (left) with Daring Hearts teammates.
What are the instant plans for the workforce?
We at the moment are enthusiastic about becoming a member of the simulation competitors, which is a part of our league. It takes place within the winter season and we’re planning on becoming a member of to work on our software program. The transition between simulation and {hardware} is kind of arduous. You want a very good simulation base to have the ability to switch immediately the information to the robotic. We’re engaged on having an excellent simulation so we are able to switch, at the least extra simply, the information learnt in simulation to the robots.
RoboCup is shifting extra in the direction of AI and studying, which we are able to see within the 3d simulation. The robots be taught numerous the movement by reinforcement studying, for instance. Within the bodily leagues it’s not as simple as we now have to switch that to the true world, the place there may be play within the joints, there’s backlash, there’s play within the 3d components – there are numerous variables that aren’t taken under consideration in simulations.
How has being a part of RoboCup impressed your research and analysis?
Each time I am going to RoboCup I come out enthusiastic about what I’m going to do subsequent. I couldn’t be extra impressed. It’s a extremely intense discipline however I like it. It makes you wish to work actually arduous and it makes you enthusiastic about science. I did my bachelor’s venture associated to RoboCup, I joined a grasp’s course on robotics, I maintain asking my Professors in the event that they wish to begin a workforce again in Portugal. I’m going to do my grasp’s thesis on robotics, on humanoids. I feel humanoids are a really advanced and fascinating problem. There is no such thing as a one single answer.
About Roberto
Roberto Figueiredo is a Portuguese, AI-focused pc scientist with a bachelor’s diploma from the College of Hertfordshire. He at present pursuing a grasp’s in Robotics and Clever Methods from the College of Aveiro, and is enthusiastic about advancing his experience in robotics. He has lengthy been very keen about robots and AI, being a participant in RoboCup since 2016 within the Rescue Simulation league. He has since grow to be native consultant for the Rescue League in Portugal and joined a Main workforce, Daring Hearts, within the Child Measurement league, one of the vital difficult in RoboCup Humanoid Soccer. |
Lucy Smith
is Managing Editor for AIhub.
AIhub
is a non-profit devoted to connecting the AI group to the general public by offering free, high-quality info in AI.
AIhub
is a non-profit devoted to connecting the AI group to the general public by offering free, high-quality info in AI.
[ad_2]
Source link