University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

PHOTOS: UB ROBOTICS CLUB

We are the Champions

UB's RoboCup team won the 2004 Small Size League National Championship, held recently at the University of New Orleans. RoboCup involves a team of 5 robots coordinated by one or more central computers to play soccer autonomously. The computers are connected to two video cameras mounted above the playing field. After processing images from the cameras, the computer determines the robots' moves, sending commands wirelessly to the robots. The robots are completely computer-controlled; there is no human interaction involved, notes Stefan Zickler, vice president of the UB Robotics Club, which sponsors the RoboCup team.

Due to financial and time restraints, UB competed in the championship with only three robots. UB team members (from right, upper row) John Casey, Mike Licitra and Zickler are pictured with members of the team from the Instituto Technológico Autónono de México (ITAM), which lost to UB in the finals. Robotics Club members (bottom row, from right) Sue Potera and Shannon Murphy accompanied the RoboCup team to New Orleans.