International Robot Superstars to Converge on Atlanta for World’s Largest Robotics Research Competition

ATLANTA, November 30, 2006 – The Georgia Institute of Technology has been selected to host RoboCup 2007, the world’s most renowned research competition among custom-built robots and their designers. RoboCup 2007 Atlanta, scheduled for July 1-10, 2007, marks the first time that the event, featuring simulated soccer and search-and-rescue competitions, will be hosted entirely on a college campus and only the second time in the United States. Past host cities for the international tournament include Paris (1998), Seattle (2001), Lisbon (2004), Osaka, Japan (2005) and Bremen, Germany (2006).

“As host of RoboCup 2007, Georgia Tech welcomes the international robotics community to Atlanta,” said Georgia Tech College of Computing Associate Professor and RoboCup 2007 Atlanta General Chair Tucker Balch. “Over the past few years, Georgia Tech has emerged as a global leader in robotics research and innovation, based upon its partnerships with industry leaders and our strengths in interactive and intelligent computing. By hosting the 11th annual RoboCup competition, Georgia Tech will have a great opportunity to showcase the technology leadership of the Institute and the City of Atlanta to researchers and scientists worldwide.”

RoboCup 2007 Atlanta will include approximately 218 senior robotic teams, and 140 junior teams from over 20 countries. These international teams will participate in soccer games and search-and-rescue missions, testing the limits in artificial intelligence and robotics research. The annual event, with sponsors including Lockheed Martin and CITIZEN, involves about 1500 students and faculty from leading universities around the world, as well as 500 middle school and high school students.

This year’s RoboCup event will also feature the debut of the Nanogram League, a competition between microscopic robots. The MEMs (MicroElectroMechanical Systems) in competition can only be viewed via microscope, but attendees will be able to watch the contest via a magnified broadcast shown on large screens throughout the event.

The overall mission of the RoboCup research and education initiative is to foster artificial intelligence and robotics research by providing a standard problem where a wide range of technologies can be examined and integrated. The international project has a founding goal of developing a team of fully autonomous humanoid robots that can win against the human World Cup champion team by the year 2050.

RoboCup 2007 Atlanta invites the public to Georgia Tech to watch as teams put their robots to work competing in realistic search-and-rescue demonstrations, as well as four-legged and humanoid soccer games.

RoboCup 2007 Atlanta Schedule:
July 1: RoboCup Opening Ceremony
July 2-6: RoboCup Qualifying Competitions
July 7-8: RoboCup Finals
July 9-10: RoboCup Symposium

Georgia Tech's Campus Recreation Center (CRC) will serve as the main venue for most RoboCup events. In addition, Technology Square Research Building (TSRB) will be the site for simulation events and Georgia Tech’s Student Center will be the main venue for the RoboCup Junior event.

In addition to hosting RoboCup 2007 Atlanta this summer, Georgia Tech will also play host to several other robotics industry events, including the Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS) Conference, a Robot Camp for Elementary and High School students and an International Aerial Robotics Competition.

For more information about RoboCup 2007 Atlanta, click here.

About the Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology is one of the nation's premiere research universities. Ranked eighth among U.S. News & World Report's top public universities, Georgia Tech's 17,000 students are enrolled in its Colleges of Architecture, Computing, Engineering, Liberal Arts, Management and Sciences. Tech is among the nation's top producers of women and African-American engineers. The Institute offers research opportunities to both undergraduate and graduate students and is home to more than 100 interdisciplinary units plus the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

About the RoboCup
RoboCup is an international research and education initiative. Its goal is to foster artificial intelligence and robotics research by providing a standard problem where a wide range of technologies can be examined and integrated. The concept of soccer-playing robots was first introduced in 1993. Following a two-year feasibility study, in August 1995, an announcement was made on the introduction of the first international conferences and soccer games. In July 1997, the first official conference and games were held in Nagoya, Japan. Followed by Paris, Stockholm, Melbourne, Seattle, Fukuoka/Busan, Padua, Lisbon, Osaka and Bremen, the annual events attracted many participants and spectators. This year, the 11th anniversary of RoboCup, the competition and symposium is being held in Atlanta, Georgia. For more details about this year's RoboCup including participants and updated schedule, click here.

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Contact: Stefany Wilson
College of Computing at Georgia Tech
404.894.7253
stefany@cc.gatech.edu
www.cc.gatech.edu