"We'll be winning the real world cup by 2050"
Running alongside the football world cup in Germany is an equivalent for robots. The 10th annual robot football world cup has some 400 teams this year, competing in 11 leagues, depending on their design. Leagues include those for bi-pedal humanoid robots and four-legged beasts.
Commentary for some matches will also be provided by robots. Two bots, named Sango and Ami, will explain the rules and react to events occurring on the pitch. One is a level headed commentator while the other is more emotional.
While it all seems like a big laugh, the event also acts as a conference for the AI and robo-nerds from 36 countries, who can all get together, show off their inventions and discuss ways to progress AI and robotics further. In fact, come 2050, the event hopes to be able to field a robotic team against the "real" world cup champions... and win.
What's more, developing footie playing robots is great for the development of other robots. "After 50 years within artificial intelligence, it has been determined that these things can be better researched using soccer than the game of chess," Hans-Dieter Burkhard, the Vice President of the RoboCup Federation, told the BBC.
Word has it the Germans are looking strong in the four-legged league, with Japan's humanoid effort also looking very impressive. The tournament ends on the 18th June.
