Robotic soccer players seek to challenge humans by 2050

As if we Earthlings didn't have enough to worry over with robots from every corner of the globe likely mounting a silent offensive to overtake our societies and claim ownership of our land, now we're faced with the startling realization that even our sporting events aren't safe from subterfuge. At the seventh annual RoboCup German Open, hordes of teams have descended upon the pitch in order to compete in robot-only soccer, er, football matchups. Quite honestly, everything seemed fine and dandy until we hit a quote from Stefan Kohlbrecher, a member of the Technical University of Darmstadt's Darmstadt Dribblers team: "The goal of the RoboCup is to compete against human world champions with robots by the year 2050." Funny, we'll supposedly be fornicating with androids by that same year. Cue Michael Stipe, please.

[mushrooshi @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:44AM]

It is all fun and games until someone loses a nut.

[Esat Dedezade @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:46AM]

Maybe the England team has just found some new talent!

[Raheem @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:55AM]

The keeper certainly managed to keep more out that Paul Robinson.

[david_topping @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:52AM]

I can't wait to see Bolton Wanderers play the Bolt-on Wanderers.

[DeadPixel @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:52AM]

let the uprising begin....

[Pradster @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:59AM]

zindane is totally going to hit it!

[Kizorblade @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:22AM]

Headbutt* it

[Pradster @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:59AM]

a metal kick to the shin is going to hurt mighty bad!!

[Twitchy @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:27AM]

I sure as hell won't slide tackle one of those!

[Grandalf @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:13AM]

We created a soccerteam based on the RoboCup Virtual ruleset at my university in the fall of 2006. It was so much fun, and I would really love to be able to work more with AI after that project. We saw some of the "real" teams from the RoboCup in action, and it's unbeliable what they are capable of already.

It's very certain that the bottleneck is already robotics. The AI is already there, and then some.

[Seoultrain @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:07PM]

Watch your back. Sarah Conner reads engadget.

[Miami Diver @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:38AM]

But the real question is how skilled are they at flopping and drawing a yellow card? The true key to success in soccer, right Italy.

[Munkcy @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:47AM]

So they want to compete against human world champions by 2050. Does that mean they'll be able to beat the U.S. mens team by 2020?

[NHAnimator @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:51AM]

Well this is certainly more bad news for American soccer. As it stands now, the only team we can beat is ourselves.

[Matt @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:55AM]

I want to be Roy's friend. He looks plucky.

[Terpy @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:32PM]

Roy looks like he would kill you given the chance.

[SERGERY @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:59AM]

is baseball next?

Farnsworth: He's good, alright. But he's no Clem Johnson. And Johnson played back in the days before steroid injections were mandatory.

Bender: Clem Johnson? That skin bag wouldn't have lasted one pitch in the old Robot Leagues! Now Wireless Joe Jackson, there was a blern-hitting machine!

Leela: Exactly! He was a machine designed to hit blerns! I mean, come on, Wireless Joe was nothing but a programmable bat on wheels.

Bender: Oh, and I suppose Pitchomat 5000 was just a modified howitzer?

[webon @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:57AM]

Its been a while so...


I for one welcome our new soccer-world-champion-robo-overlords

[iH8Engadget @ Apr 23rd 2008 7:50PM]

Yo you ass much. (looking at you webon) You stole my icon. It took me over an hour to photoshop Gadgie and give him X's in his eyes and turn that smile into a frown. I want some fucking royalties.... blah, I'll just put something better up. Thieving mofo.

[webon @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:51PM]

Hey newbe, thats been ma icon since last year


And why photoshopit when the kind dudes at EG did it already??


loosr

[awong @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:06AM]

It gives new meaning to crunching tackle!

[Magallanes @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:16AM]

You can use this robot to play a (boring) football play

or

you can use the same robots, give it a chainsaw/shotgun and put fighting each other in a "Highlander" competition. And for more funny you can change the usual black oil for a crimson one.

[webon @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:41AM]

you surely meant Unreal Tournment

[kanedas @ Apr 23rd 2008 6:28PM]

And by 2050 robots will beat humans at what?

[Guille @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:22AM]

To be able to beat the human's soccer world champion team by year 2050 *IS* one of the goals of the RoboCup from its creation. This is VERY old news.

[Valgas @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:47AM]

Those things look like robotic lawn jockies....... .

[cmariotti @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:57AM]

I don't think it's fair to place human against robot.

Robots don't have shins (for those shin-to-shin kicks where both players go down in agony).

Robots don't have balls, so kicking them in the balls doesn't work.

[Ian @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:48PM]

you forgot about the headbut!

[Crayola @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:03PM]

Place your bets, BigDog winning the Kentucky derby by 2015, by 2050, the two legged will be ruled by the four legged!

If you want a vision of the future, imagine a hove stamping on a human face - forever

[anodynewake @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:43PM]

I'd put my money on BigDog now...

[pb03d @ Apr 23rd 2008 5:36PM]

They can build robots that play soccer, but can't build a miniature soccer ball?

[3r1c @ Apr 23rd 2008 5:54PM]

DON'T ACTIVATE SKYNET!!!

[ugg.tryptophan @ Apr 23rd 2008 5:59PM]

bend it like beckham-bot!

[JonW @ Apr 24th 2008 4:13AM]

Well, I will be 90 years old (if still alive) in 2050, so this'll be something to look forward to... that and my flying car!!!

[HolyMary @ Apr 24th 2008 5:51AM]

Team Osaka (Japan) vs. NimbRo (Univ. of Freiburg, Germany)
The 2007 final

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICgL1OWsn58&feature=related)

And if u want to see humans VS robots check this out :)

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow7mzhPwlkw)

[toB @ Apr 24th 2008 7:17AM]

By that time they can make softer bots, with nuts and all... they could use androids, but still... I think there is no fun in watching an artificial game, unless they'd be controlled by humans I suspect it would be too perfect and too predictable.
If they where controlled by humans it could be fun to watch some super hero moves or something like that, but it should have to be bot against bot, to be fair.