RoboCup

What is RoboCup?

RoboCup combines the excitement of developing autonomous robots with the opportunity to compete with other university teams from around the world.

By investing in research and education in the field of artificial intelligence we can find real-world solutions to help better the lives of many. From restoring independence to people living with mobility impairments to rescuing victims of a building collapse, the technologies we build today will improve the tomorrow.

Get involved with RoboCup

The rUNSWift team is made up of undergraduate students in the School of Computer Science and Engineering. While third year students are welcome, almost all the students have entered the RoboCup competition as the main part of their 4th year thesis.

RoboCup participation takes a large amount of time and effort but the sense of camaraderie and achievement amongst the team is hugely rewarding. Students selected to be on the core team generally receive an all-expenses paid international trip to the competition.

RoboCup is more like a club or society than an honours project. UNSWift has been world champions more than any other team and has included university medalists over the years.

Pre-requisites

RoboCup is extremely competitive. We want students with high grades (at least a distinction average) and the creativity and motivation to find new ways to win at robot soccer.

We look at more than just your transcript when selecting the RoboCup team. We want to know if you can work with the robots. There are two normal ways to demonstrate to us that you can work with robots. The first is to complete Robot Architectures (COMP3431), the second is to work with us the summer before you wish to be on the RoboCup team. Most of the students who work with us over the summer are on a summer scholarship, but some also volunteer because it's fun.

Timeline

The RoboCup international competition occurs around late June or early July each year. The team starts working in earnest in term 1 each year. This means that you'll need to have learnt how to use the robots before then (see Pre-Requisites above).

4th year thesis students

In recent years, in order to allow themselves time to do a good job with the RoboCup team, we have had 4th year RoboCup students enrol in both Thesis A and Thesis B in term 1. They then have their marks withheld and complete their thesis document in their own time in semester 2.

Past UNSW RoboCup events

RoboCup has been a proud part of our program for more than 10 years. Take a trip down memory lane and see our past teams, how they placed and their sponsors.