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Photos: RoboCup 2006 set to kick off

Droids and Aibos head to Germany for championship games of robotic soccer. And guess who's doing the color commentary?
By Bill Detwiler, Contributor
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Robots in a four-on-four match

With the World Cup games just under way in Germany, it's not just humans who'll be kicking soccer balls in a quest for glory. So, too, will teams of mechanical Ronaldinho wannabes, at the RoboCup 2006 event in the northern German city of Bremen this week. In this photo from an earlier match, these fully autonomous players are running through a four-on-four game.

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Aibos chew up the turf

Sony's Aibo has long been a favorite for robot soccer matches. In these games, the robot dogs--and other robotic competitors--have to demonstrate both individual skills, such as dribbling the ball and locating themselves on the field of play, and cooperative actions such as passing.

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Miro Klose cradles his Aibo buddy

This Aibo has a boon companion in Miro Klose, a star of the German national team. Alas, Sony isn't as affectionate anymore--in January, it eliminated the robotics unit that designed and built the pup.

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Fancy footwork from Sony's humanoid Qrio

Color commentary for some of the RoboCup matches will be provided by a pair of robots from Carnegie Mellon University. Based on Sony's humanoid Qrio (seen here)--also a victim of the company's cost-cutting earlier this year--the duo of Ami and Sango will receive wireless input from the Game Controller, the same system that communicates the referee's calls to the four-legged robot players. Ami is designed to be emotional, while Sango is the sober one, Carnegie Mellon says.

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Robots to the rescue

Before the actual games begin, some robots will put on a demonstration of their rescue skills. The scenario incorporates a simulated accident scene involving several wrecked vehicles and the possibility of hazardous substances being spilled. Equipped with cameras, the remote-controlled robots will venture into the accident scene ahead of their human handlers.

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