TEAM RESOURCES: SOCCER

A variety of team resources, including rules, are posted below.  Please note that a team member cannot participate on more than one RoboCupJunior USA team.  In addition, teams cannot share robots.

Rules

The USA soccer competition will follow the rules posted in the soccer section of the RobocupJunior International web site, except:

  • Matches will be five minutes long and penalties will be 30 seconds long. Halftime will remain 5 minutes long.

  • Adherence to the rules relating to the physical specifications of robots in the Soccer Entry Challenge sub-league, especially the weight limitation, will not be as as strict as with the other soccer sub-leagues.

If you have specific concerns/questions, please feel free to contact robocupjunior.us@gmail.com.

* Please note: the international competition will use the rules posted in the soccer section of the RobocupJunior International web site. Teams hoping to advance to internationals should review the current international rules and ensure their robot can compete effectively both in the US and at internationals.

Awards

In addition to the competition performances, a panel of experts will interview each soccer team and be responsible for awarding up to six judged awards.  The teams will be judged as a combined pool of Soccer participants, not by sub-league. (The Soccer Entry Challenge sub-league will not formally be judged this season.) The awards we could provide are: 

  • Teamwork, given for dedication to collaborative processes internal to the team

  • Programming and Control, given for high quality code and software technique

  • Design, given for excellence in the robot’s form and features.

  • Creativity, given for surprising or novel ideas expressed on the robot

  • Documentation, given for clear and accessible explanation of the robot at all levels.

  • Impact, given for a team's efforts to help support robotics and engineering education in their community

Teams will be judged for these awards based on their performance throughout the competition, their presentation to the judges, and artifacts and documentation of their process submitted to the judges. Please be prepared to submit any/all documentation digitally prior to the event.

NOTE: Depending on the number of teams participating, not all judged awards listed above may be awarded.  

As the US qualifier for the RoboCupJunior 2024 international competition, the teams that we nominate to represent the US will be the top ranked team in their division who ALSO received higher marks in those categories.  We hope this emphasizes our commitment to excellence in robotics in all dimensions and our desire to celebrate a diverse array of teams.

Field Construction

We plan on updating the fields for this year’s competition. Materials are limited by what is available given supply and cost limitations. As the rules state, robots must be able to adapt to varying field conditions especially when it comes to the carpet. To be up to date on what exact materials will be present and/or help constructing your own practice field, please contact mike.ambrose@robocupjunior.us or reach out on our Discord server.