Gearing up for RoboCupJunior: Interview with Ana Patrícia Magalhães

Motion from RoboCupJunior Rescue at RoboCup 2024. Picture: RoboCup/Bart van Overbeeke.

The annual RoboCup occasion, the place groups collect from throughout the globe to participate in competitions throughout a lot of leagues, will this 12 months happen in Brazil, from 15-21 July. An vital a part of the week is RoboCupJunior, which is designed to introduce RoboCup to highschool kids, and sees a whole lot of youngsters participating in quite a lot of challenges throughout completely different leagues. This 12 months, the lead organizer for RoboCupJunior is Ana Patrícia Magalhães. We caught up together with her to learn the way the preparations are going, what to anticipate at this 12 months’s competitors, and the way RoboCup conjures up communities.

Might you inform us about RoboCupJunior and the plans you’ve gotten for the competitors this 12 months?

RoboCup will happen from 15-21 July, in Salvador, Brazil. We anticipate to obtain individuals from greater than 40 international locations, throughout the Junior and Main Leagues. We’re making ready every part to accommodate all the scholars participating in RoboCupJunior, who will take part within the Junior Leagues of Soccer, Rescue and OnStage. They’re kids and youngsters, so we have now organized shuttles to take them from the resorts to the conference middle. We’ve additionally ready a handbook with suggestions about safety, locations they will go to, locations to eat. The thought is to offer all the mandatory assist for them, as a result of they’re so younger. We’re additionally organizing a welcome get together for the Juniors in order that they will expertise a bit of little bit of our tradition. It’ll hopefully be a very good expertise for them.

The Juniors will probably be situated on the primary degree of the mezzanine on the conference middle. They are going to be separate from the Main Leagues, who will probably be on the bottom flooring. After all, they’ll have the ability to go to the Main Leagues, and discuss to the scholars and different rivals there, however it is going to be good for them to have their very own house. There may also be some dad and mom and academics with them, so we determined to make use of this particular, devoted house.

RoboCupJunior On Stage at RoboCup 2024. Picture: RoboCup/Bart van Overbeeke.

Do you’ve gotten any thought of roughly what number of groups will probably be participating?

Sure, so we’ll have about 48 groups within the Soccer Leagues, 86 groups within the Rescue Leagues, and 27 in OnStage. That’s plenty of groups. Every staff has about three or 4 college students, and lots of the dad and mom, academics and professors journey with them too. In whole, we anticipate about 600 individuals to be related to RoboCupJunior.

RoboCupJunior Soccer at RoboCup 2024. Picture: RoboCup/Bart van Overbeeke.

Have you ever obtained extra RoboCupJunior contributors from Brazil this 12 months because of the location?

Sure, we have now many groups from Brazil competing. I don’t know the precise quantity, however there are positively extra Brazilian groups this 12 months, as a result of it’s lots cheaper and simpler for them to journey right here. When we have now competitions in different international locations, it’s costly for them. For instance, I’ve a staff right here in Salvador that certified for the tremendous regional occasion within the US and our staff couldn’t go. They’d certified, however they couldn’t go as a result of they didn’t have cash to pay for the ticket. Now, it is going to be doable for all of the Brazilian groups certified to take part as a result of it’s cheaper for them to return right here. So it’s a giant alternative for improvement and to dwell the RoboCup expertise. It’s essential for youngsters and youngsters to share their analysis, meet individuals from different international locations, and see what they’re doing, and what analysis path they’re following. They’re very grateful for the chance to have their work examined in opposition to others. In a contest, it’s doable to check your analysis with others. So it’s completely different from conferences the place you current a paper and present your work, however it’s not doable to check and consider the outcomes with different comparable work. In a contest you’ve gotten this chance. It’s a great way to get insights and enhance your analysis.

RoboCupJunior Rescue at RoboCup 2024. Picture: RoboCup/Bart van Overbeeke.

Your position at this RoboCup will probably be organizing RoboCupJunior. Are you additionally concerned within the Main Leagues?

Sure, so my predominant position is organizing RoboCupJunior and I’m additionally one of many chairs of the RoboCup Symposium. Moreover, some groups from my laboratory are competing within the Main leagues. My staff participates within the @Dwelling league, however I haven’t had a lot time to assist them just lately, with all of the preparations for RoboCup2025. Our laboratory additionally has groups from the 3d Simulation Soccer League, and the Flying Robots Demo. This would be the first time we’ll see a flying robotic demo league at a RoboCup.

We’ll even have two junior groups from the Rescue Simulation League. They’re very enthusiastic about participating.

RoboCupJunior Rescue at RoboCup 2024. Picture: RoboCup/Bart van Overbeeke.

RoboCup was final held in Brazil in 2014, and I perceive that there have been numerous new those that had been impressed to hitch a staff after that. Do you assume the 2025 RoboCup may have the identical impact and can encourage extra individuals in Brazil to participate?

Sure, I hope so. The final one impressed many, many college students. We may understand the distinction earlier than and after RoboCup at the moment, associated to initiatives in colleges. In 2014, RoboCup was held in João Pessoa, a metropolis within the north east that isn’t as developed or populated as many different states in Brazil. It actually improved the analysis in that place and the curiosity in robotics particularly. After the 2014 RoboCup, we’ve had many initiatives submitted to the Brazilian RoboCup competitors from that state yearly. We imagine that it was due to RoboCup being held there.

We hope that RoboCup2025 subsequent month may have the identical impact. We expect it may need an excellent larger influence, as a result of there’s extra social media now and the information can unfold lots additional. We predict many guests. We may have a type the place colleges that wish to go to can enroll on a guided go to of RoboCup. This may go dwell on the web site subsequent week, however we’re already receiving many messages from colleges asking how they will take part with their group. They’re within the occasions, so we have now excessive expectations.

We now have been engaged on organizing RoboCup2025 for over a 12 months, and there’s nonetheless a lot to do. We’re excited to obtain all people right here, each for the competitors and to see the town. We now have a lovely metropolis on the coast, and a few lovely locations to go to, so I like to recommend that individuals come and keep for some days after the competitors to get to know our metropolis.

About Ana Patrícia

Ana Patrícia F. Magalhães Mascarenhas acquired her PhD in Laptop Science from the Federal College of Bahia (2016) and Grasp in Mechatronics from the Federal College of Bahia (2007). She is at the moment an adjunct professor on the State College of Bahia (UNEB) on the Data Techniques course. She is a researcher and vice coordinator of the Middle for Analysis in Laptop Structure, Clever Techniques and Robotics (ACSO). Her present analysis focuses on service robotics and software program engineering, particularly associated to using Synthetic Intelligence (AI) within the software program improvement course of and in Mannequin-Pushed Improvement (DDM).