RoboCup 2000: Robot Soccer World Cup IV

RoboCup2000,theFourthRobotWorldCupSoccerGamesandConferences, washeldfromAugust27thtoSeptember3rd,2000,attheMelbourneExhi- tionCenterinMelbourne,Australia. LikethepreviousinternationalRoboCup events-RoboCup97 in Nagoya, Japan; RoboCup98 in Paris, France; and RoboCup99inStockholm,Sweden-RoboCup2000includedatechnicalwo- shopaswellasseveralroboticsoccercompetitions. RoboCup2000introduced the?rstRoboCupJr. competitionforchildren,aswellasdemonstrationsof humanoidrobotsandoftheRoboCup-Rescuedisasterrescuesimulator. ThisbookdocumentsRoboCup2000. Itconsistsof(i)anoverview;(ii)ch- pionshippapersbythewinnersofthecompetitions;(iii)the?nalistpapersfor theRoboCupchallengeawards;(iv)thepapersandposterspresentedatthe workshop;and(v)descriptionsoftheteamsthatcompeted. Thebookbeginswithanoverviewarticleintroducingthecompetitionsand demonstrationsandincludingthescoresofallofthegamesinthefourc- petitionleagues:thesimulationleague,thesmall-sizerobot(F180)league,the middle-sizerobot(F2000)league,andtheSonyleggedrobotleague. Thefoll- ingsectionpresentsthechampionshippapersfromthewinnersoftheseleagues. TheRoboCupchallengeawardsaredistinctionsthataregivenannuallyto theRoboCup-relatedresearcherswiththegreatestpotentialtoadvancetheir respective?elds. InRoboCup2000,thechallengeaward?nalistswereselected fromamongtheworkshoppapers. Thefourselected?nalistpapersappearin thenextsection. TheannualRoboCupworkshopprovidesaforumforRoboCupresearchers toexchangeideasthataregenerallyapplicableacrossthedi?erentRoboCup leaguesand/orthatareofgeneralscienti?cinterest. TheRoboCup2000wo- shopreceivedmorethan60submissions,fromwhich20wereselectedforfull presentationandanadditional20wereselectedforposterpresentation. These researchpapersformthemainbodyofthisbook.…