Roberto Figueiredo is a grasp’s scholar on the College of Aveiro. He’s a member of the Daring 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 foremost 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 usually. I’d been working with electronics up to now, however simulation gave me a little bit of an introduction to the extra theoretical elements 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 workforce celebrating after the finals.

May you inform us concerning the subsequent RoboCup occasions that you simply 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 benefit of robotics, you get to fulfill plenty of new individuals in new nations. 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 yr was my final RoboCup as a junior, which was in Sydney. That was additionally an fascinating occasion and I obtained to talk 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 significant league RoboCup workforce.

There’s a large hole between the junior and main leagues. After I joined my workforce (the Daring Hearts), a lot of the workforce had been PhDs and I used to be only a second yr bachelor’s scholar so it was fairly onerous to choose up all of the data. Nonetheless, if you’re persistent sufficient and you have an interest in, and enthusiastic about, robotics you’ll get the hold 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 workforce within the main league?

My first competitors was really final yr, in Thailand. We didn’t carry out as we wish to, nevertheless, there’s far 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 taking part in, and we couldn’t determine what was taking place. I requested one other workforce that was utilizing the identical software program – that they had discovered the issue earlier than and so they advised us methods 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 data. 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 special nation and a special type of training. After 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 obtained 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 plenty of issues to resolve – on each the {hardware} and software program aspect. All of us at present are laptop 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 achieved some 3d modelling for the robots, and I’m at present engaged on the balancing downside. All of us work collectively on the issues which is superb since you get to see a little bit of all the things and study from everybody. Robotics is a really multidisciplinary discipline. You get to study all types of matters: mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, machine studying, coding typically.

The Daring Hearts’ qualification video for this yr’s RoboCup competitors

May you inform us about this yr’s competitors (which happened in Bordeaux)?

This yr we had been much more ready than final yr, after we’d simply come again from COVID, and all of our skilled members had lately left the workforce, because of ending their PhDs and beginning work. Making a profitable robotic workforce is a large integration downside. 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 yr, we had imaginative and prescient working nicely too, and we had a steady determination tree, and we had been capable of take heed to the controller (which is sort of a referee and passes on details about fouls, sport begin and stops and so on.). Nonetheless, we had some bugs within the determination tree that made all the things disintegrate and we spent plenty of time making an attempt to debug it. This occurs to plenty of groups. Nonetheless, you’ll be able to nonetheless admire the work and progress of what they’ve achieved.

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

What are the fast plans for the workforce?

We at the moment are eager 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 onerous. You want an excellent simulation base to have the ability to switch straight the data to the robotic. We’re engaged on having an excellent simulation so we are able to switch, not less than 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 plenty of the movement by way of reinforcement studying, for instance. Within the bodily leagues it’s not as straightforward as we’ve to switch that to the actual world, the place there’s play within the joints, there’s backlash, there’s play within the 3d components – there are plenty of variables that aren’t taken into consideration in simulations.

How has being a part of RoboCup impressed your research and analysis?

Each time I’m going to RoboCup I come out eager about what I’m going to do subsequent. I couldn’t be extra impressed. It’s a very intense discipline however I find it irresistible. It makes you need to work actually onerous and it makes you enthusiastic about science. I did my bachelor’s mission associated to RoboCup, I joined a grasp’s course on robotics, I maintain asking my Professors in the event that they need to begin a workforce again in Portugal. I’m going to do my grasp’s thesis on robotics, on humanoids. I believe humanoids are a really complicated and fascinating problem. There isn’t a one single resolution.

About Roberto

Roberto Figueiredo is a Portuguese, AI-focused laptop scientist with a bachelor’s diploma from the College of Hertfordshire. He at present pursuing a grasp’s in Robotics and Clever Techniques from the College of Aveiro, and is enthusiastic about advancing his experience in robotics. He has lengthy been very passionate about robots and AI, being a participant in RoboCup since 2016 within the Rescue Simulation league. He has since turn out to be native consultant for the Rescue League in Portugal and joined a Main workforce, Daring Hearts, within the Child Measurement league, some of the difficult in RoboCup Humanoid Soccer.