Interview with Roberto Figueiredo: the RoboCup expertise

Roberto Figueiredo is a grasp’s pupil on the College of Aveiro. He’s a member of the Daring Hearts RoboCup group 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 key 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 really 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 typically. 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 typically. Rescue simulation makes you consider methods to make the robots unbiased and never manually managed by people.

Roberto’s first RoboCup in 2016, Leipzig, pictured with the Singapore group celebrating after the finals.

May you inform us concerning the subsequent RoboCup occasions that you just took half in?

In 2017 we certified to go to Nagoya, Japan, which was not simply an incredible RoboCup, however an incredible journey. That’s one other advantage of robotics, you get to fulfill a number of new individuals in new international locations. We did fairly nicely on this competitors as nicely, I believe we reached fifth place.

After that we went to European RoboCup Junior in Italy. The next 12 months was my final RoboCup as a junior, which was in Sydney. That was additionally an attention-grabbing occasion and I obtained 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 become involved with a serious league RoboCup group.

There’s a huge hole between the junior and main leagues. Once I joined my group (the Daring Hearts), many of the group have been PhDs and I used to be only a second 12 months bachelor’s pupil so it was fairly onerous to select up all of the data. Nonetheless, if you’re persistent sufficient and you have an interest in, and keen about, robotics you’ll get the dangle of it and also you’ll study by trial and error.

EuroRoboCup 2022 in Portugal. Roberto (kneeling in photograph) was a part of the organising committee.

When was your first competitors with the group within the main league?

My first competitors was really final 12 months, in Thailand. We didn’t carry out as we want to, nevertheless, there’s rather more to RoboCup than simply the competitors – it’s now extra of a scientific and knowledge-sharing occasion, it’s distinctive. Simply this 12 months, in Bordeaux, we had an issue with our robots. Each time we disconnected the ethernet cable, the robotic simply stopped taking part in, and we couldn’t work out what was taking place. I requested one other group that was utilizing the identical software program – they’d found out the issue earlier than and so they advised us learn how to remedy it. I don’t assume you’ll see that in different competitions. Each group has a joint goal which is making science progress, making friendships, and making different groups higher by sharing their data. That’s actually distinctive.

How did you be part of the Daring Hearts group?

I made a decision to do my grasp’s within the UK (on the College of Hertfordshire), to expertise a distinct nation and a distinct type of training. Once I joined, I knew there was a group so I used to be already trying ahead to becoming a member of. After a few years of labor, we lastly obtained to go to a contest as a group. It’s been an incredible time and an enormous studying expertise.

What’s your function on the group?

In our group, everybody does a little bit of every little thing. We nonetheless have a number of 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 every little thing, each AI and non-AI associated issues. For instance, I’ve completed 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 wonderful since you get to see a little bit of every little thing and study from everybody. Robotics is a really multidisciplinary subject. You get to find out about every kind of subjects: mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, machine studying, coding typically.

The Daring Hearts’ qualification video for this 12 months’s RoboCup competitors

May you inform us about this 12 months’s competitors (which befell in Bordeaux)?

This 12 months we have been much more ready than final 12 months, once we’d simply come again from COVID, and all of our skilled members had just lately left the group, on account of ending their PhDs and beginning work. Making a profitable robotic group is a big integration drawback. There are such a lot of items that must go collectively and work completely for the robots to perform, and if one fails it appears to be like like your system isn’t doing something. We obtained strolling working completely this 12 months, we had imaginative and prescient working nicely too, and we had a steady choice tree, and we have been capable of 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 choice tree that made every little thing disintegrate and we spent a number of time making an attempt to debug it. This occurs to a number of groups. Nonetheless, you’ll be able to nonetheless recognize the work and progress of what they’ve completed.

RoboCup 2023 in Bordeaux. Roberto (left) with Daring Hearts teammates.

What are the quick plans for the group?

We at the moment are desirous 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 sort of onerous. You want an excellent simulation base to have the ability to switch immediately the data to the robotic. We’re engaged on having an excellent simulation so we are able to switch, at the very least extra simply, the data learnt in simulation to the robots.

RoboCup is transferring extra in the direction of AI and studying, which we are able to see within the 3d simulation. The robots study a number of the movement by means of reinforcement studying, for instance. Within the bodily leagues it’s not as straightforward as we’ve to switch that to the true world, the place there’s play within the joints, there’s backlash, there’s play within the 3d elements – there are a number of 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 desirous about what I’m going to do subsequent. I couldn’t be extra impressed. It’s a extremely intense subject however I like it. It makes you need to work actually onerous and it makes you keen about science. I did my bachelor’s challenge associated to RoboCup, I joined a grasp’s course on robotics, I hold asking my Professors in the event that they need to begin a group again in Portugal. I’m going to do my grasp’s thesis on robotics, on humanoids. I believe humanoids are a really complicated and attention-grabbing problem. There isn’t a one single resolution.

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 keen about advancing his experience in robotics. He has lengthy been very captivated with robots and AI, being a participant in RoboCup since 2016 within the Rescue Simulation league. He has since develop into native consultant for the Rescue League in Portugal and joined a Main group, Daring Hearts, within the Child Measurement league, one of the difficult in RoboCup Humanoid Soccer.