RoboCup bots experiment with our preconceived notions of competition, standing up

We've been tracking the glacial pace of RoboCup competition for a while now, and we're starting to see it as less of a credible threat to human soccer players, and more like an elaborate experiment on the part of the robots to broaden our perception of the world and competitive sport. Or maybe there's just a few more bugs to work out. This year's Standard Platform League of the RoboCup is based on Nao humanoid bots, and the Northern Bites team of Bowdoin College posted some truly insightful footage of the event -- the finals of which can be found after the break.

Bowdoin CMU 3rd Place Match - First Half


Bowdoin CMU 3rd Place Match - Second Half


Texas UPenn 1st Place Match - First Half


Texas UPenn 1st Place Match - Second Half