Fun With  Robot Soccer!

• The Soccer Mat

• Soccer Balls

• Stay in the Field
• Find the Ball
• Which end is the opponent's goal?
• Kick the Ball 

• Soccer Rules 

• Go back to the List of Challenges

Soccer rules

The 2011 Australian rules for RoboCup Junior Gen II Robot Soccer can be downloaded from here. If this link is temporarily unavailable, a copy of the rules as they were in April 2011 can be downloaded from here.

The Gen II Robot Soccer rules used in the World Robot Olympiad in Abu Dhabi  2011 are available here.

The New Zealand rules for RoboCup Junior GEN II soccer can be downloaded from here.

The Tasmanian RoboCup Junior Soccer Competition has some local modifications to the Australian rules, click  here for the Tasmanian 2010 Soccer guide.

What rules are useful to read first?

The complete rules are long and complicated, but there is no need to read them all when you are just starting out! A brief summary of the Australian rules may help:-

Robot Size. Your completed soccer robot has to fit into a tube 22 centimetres (approximately 8 5/8 inches) in diameter (rule 3.1.2), and 22 centimetres (approximately 8 5/8 inches) high (rule 3.1.3). If you are just starting out, your robot will probably have to weigh less than 1 kilogram (approximately 2 lbs. 3 ounces, see rule 3.1.4).

Experience. The 2011 Australian rules introduce a "Novice League" which is for beginners who can not have more than two years experience playing Robocup Junior Soccer (rules 3.4.2 and 3.5.2). Students who are not eligible for the Novice League can compete in the "Open Class" (rule 3.1.4) which has less restrictions than the rules for the Novice League (e.g. a greater range of non-LEGO equipment can be used).

Team Sizes. A Robot Soccer team consists of two robots (rule 3.4.1).

Control of the Robot. Remote control of the Soccer Robots is not allowed (rules 3.2.1 and 3.2.3).

Commercial Robot Soccer Kits. These will not be allowed unless they have been substantially modified by the students (rules 3.5.1 and 6.2.3).

Certainly read through all the Robot Soccer Rules if you have the time, you will have to know them if you are going into a robot soccer competition. However the rules above  are probably the main ones that you need to know about before starting to build your first GEN II Robot Soccer player.

Of course if you are not entering an organised soccer competition, you can build your Robot Soccer player however you like!

What ever you do, the main thing is to have fun learning how your robot soccer player works, and how best to program it! - Go ahead - have fun!!! Go Robot Soccer!

DrGraeme.net - Family Fun With Robotics - LEGO NXT MindStorms - NXT-G - NXT-G - Robot Gen II Soccer step 8