Modelling and control of a soccer robot

Robotic soccer is a challenging research and pedagogical domain that involves many technical and or scientific problems. A vision system is required to see the field, ball and players. Mechanical and electrical systems must be robust and reliable. A low-level control system of robot players must be able to control the players precisely enough. High-level strategic control usually involves some aspects of AI. Moreover, all this must work in real time and in harmony. Any part of the system must be well designed and good enough in order that the team may win the match. Thus it is worthwhile to deal with control and construction of an individual player to secure good quality of this basic element of the system. The paper describes some results of development of robot soccer team RoBohemia from Brno University of Technology. The robot soccer team belongs to MIROSOT (Micro Robot Soccer Tournament) robot soccer category. The paper introduces a mathematical model and simulation scheme of the robot player simultaneously with some construction details. Both dynamic and kinematic models are considered. The paper describes also a control scheme and problems connected with control of the robot player. The control scheme must guarantee nonoscillatory and fast movement of the robot during a match.