Do these robots play like any footballers on your team?
Students from China and Portugal are training humanoid football robots at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing for the World Humanoid Robot Sports Games, set for August 15 to 17.
The multi-sport event will feature humanoid robots competing in football, track, and field events. The training includes advanced techniques in artificial intelligence and robotics.
Luo Changsheng, a member of the Tsinghua University Robot Football Team, explained their approach to programming the robots.
"We adopted a method combining imitation learning and reinforcement learning. Specifically, we first use imitation learning to show human actions to the robot, then let the robot iterate thousands or even tens of thousands of times in a simulation environment," Changsheng told AFP in an interview.
"This allows it to independently learn the essence of human movements, ultimately enabling it to dribble like a human and shoot the ball like a human," he added.
The student also expressed confidence in China's ability to produce top-notch robots, but admitted that there remain areas to improve on, especially in other sports.
“I believe China’s humanoid robot hardware is among the most advanced in the world, both in terms of industrial development and humanoid robot design. However, we still need to catch up in certain areas of control algorithms, such as enabling robots to play badminton or table tennis.”
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
