Gearing up for RoboCupJunior: Interview with Ana Patrícia Magalhães

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

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

Might you inform us about RoboCupJunior and the plans you may have for the competitors this 12 months?

RoboCup will happen from 15-21 July, in Salvador, Brazil. We anticipate to obtain folks from greater than 40 international locations, throughout the Junior and Main Leagues. We’re getting ready every little thing to accommodate all the scholars collaborating in RoboCupJunior, who will take part within the Junior Leagues of Soccer, Rescue and OnStage. They’re youngsters and youngsters, so we have now organized shuttles to take them from the lodges to the conference heart. 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 occasion for the Juniors in order that they will expertise a little bit little bit of our tradition. It can hopefully be a very good expertise for them.

The Juniors will probably be situated on the primary degree of the mezzanine on the conference heart. They are going to be separate from the Main Leagues, who will probably be on the bottom flooring. In fact, they’ll be capable of go to the Main Leagues, and discuss to the scholars and different opponents there, however it is going to be good for them to have their very own house. There may even be some mother and father and lecturers with them, so we determined to make use of this particular, devoted house.

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

Do you may have any concept of roughly what number of groups will probably be collaborating?

Sure, so we’ll have about 48 groups within the Soccer Leagues, 86 groups within the Rescue Leagues, and 27 in OnStage. That’s a variety of groups. Every staff has about three or 4 college students, and most of the mother and father, lecturers and professors journey with them too. In whole, we anticipate about 600 folks to be related to RoboCupJunior.

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

Have you ever bought extra RoboCupJunior individuals 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 undoubtedly extra Brazilian groups this 12 months, as a result of it’s so much 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. That they had 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 attainable for all of the Brazilian groups certified to take part as a result of it’s cheaper for them to come back right here. So it’s a giant alternative for improvement and to reside the RoboCup expertise. It’s crucial for youngsters and youngsters to share their analysis, meet folks 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 towards others. In a contest, it’s attainable to check your analysis with others. So it’s totally different from conferences the place you current a paper and present your work, however it’s not attainable to check and consider the outcomes with different related work. In a contest you may have this chance. It’s a great way to get insights and enhance your analysis.

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

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

Sure, so my primary function is organizing RoboCupJunior and I’m additionally one of many chairs of the RoboCup Symposium. Apart from, some groups from my laboratory are competing within the Main leagues. My staff participates within the @Residence 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 collaborating.

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

RoboCup was final held in Brazil in 2014, and I perceive that there have been various new folks that had been impressed to affix a staff after that. Do you suppose the 2025 RoboCup could have the identical impact and can encourage extra folks 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 faculties. In 2014, RoboCup was held in João Pessoa, a metropolis within the north east that’s not 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 could have the identical impact. We expect it may need a good larger affect, as a result of there’s extra social media now and the information can unfold so much additional. We predict many guests. We could have a kind the place faculties that need to go to can enroll on a guided go to of RoboCup. It will go reside on the web site subsequent week, however we’re already receiving many messages from faculties 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 stupendous metropolis on the coast, and a few stunning 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 obtained 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 present an adjunct professor on the State College of Bahia (UNEB) on the Info Programs course. She is a researcher and vice coordinator of the Heart for Analysis in Laptop Structure, Clever Programs and Robotics (ACSO). Her present analysis focuses on service robotics and software program engineering, particularly associated to the usage of Synthetic Intelligence (AI) within the software program improvement course of and in Mannequin-Pushed Improvement (DDM).