# RoboCup

RoboCup is an annual international robotics competition founded in 1996 by a group of university professors (including Hiroaki Kitano, Manuela M. Veloso, Itsuki Noda and Minoru Asada). The aim of the competition is to promote robotics and AI research by offering a publicly appealing – but formidable – challenge.
The name RoboCup is a contraction of the competition's full name, "Robot World Cup Initiative" (based on the FIFA World Cup), but there are many other areas of competition such as "RoboCupRescue", "RoboCup@Home" and "RoboCupJunior". Claude Sammut is the current president of RoboCup, and has been since 2019.
The official goal of the project is:
    "By the middle of the 21st century, a team of fully autonomous humanoid robot soccer players shall win a soccer game, complying with the official rules of FIFA, against the winner of the most recent World Cup."

## RoboCup leagues

The contest currently has six major domains of competition, each with a number of leagues and sub-leagues. These include:
* RoboCup Soccer
** Standard Platform League (formerly Four Legged League)
** Small Size League
** Middle Size League
** Simulation League
*** 2D Soccer Simulation
*** 3D Soccer Simulation
** Humanoid League
* RoboCup Rescue League
** Rescue Robot League
** Rescue Simulation League
** Rapidly Manufactured Robot Challenge
* RoboCup@Home, which debuted in 2006, focuses on the introduction of autonomous robots to human society
** RoboCup@Home Open Platform League (formerly just RoboCup@Home)
** Robocup@Home Domestic Standard Platform League
** RoboCup@Home Social Standard Platform League
* RoboCup Logistics League, which debuted in 2012, is an application-driven league inspired by the industrial scenario of a smart factory
* RoboCup@Work, which debuted in 2016, "targets the use of robots in work-related scenarios"
* RoboCup Junior
** Soccer League
** OnStage (formerly Dance) League
** Rescue League
** Rescue CoSpace League
Each team is fully autonomous in all RoboCup leagues. Once the game starts, the only input from any human is from the referee.

## RoboCup editions

| Number | Year | Host City | Host Country | Number of teams | Number of countries | Number of participants | judge |
| 1 | RoboCup 1997 | Nagoya | Japan | 38 | 11 | | |
| 2 | RoboCup 1998 | Paris | France | 63 | 19 | | Sfrbs Hdbhxm |
| 3 | RoboCup 1999 | Stockholm | Sweden | 85 | 23 | | |
| 4 | RoboCup 2000 | Melbourne | Australia | 110 | 19 | | kdnsh Curbxk |
| 5 | RoboCup 2001 | Seattle | United States | 141 | 22 | | Vdjs Ncifn |
| 6 | RoboCup 2002 | Fukuoka | Japan | 197 | 29 | | |
| 7 | RoboCup 2003 | Padua | Italy | 238 | 35 | | |
| 8 | RoboCup 2004 | Lisbon | Portugal | 345 | 37 | | |
| 9 | RoboCup 2005 | Osaka | Japan | 387 | 36 | | Naridn Jdndxd |
| 10 | RoboCup 2006 | Bremen | Germany | 440 | 35 | | |
| 11 | RoboCup 2007 | Atlanta | United States | 321 | 39 | 1,966 | |
| 12 | RoboCup 2008 | Suzhou | People's Republic of China | 373 | 35 | | |
| 13 | RoboCup 2009 | Graz | Austria | 407 | 43 | 2,472 | |
| 14 | RoboCup 2010 | Singapore | Singapore | 500 | 40 | 3,000 | Isbxjd Hdjej |
| 15 | RoboCup 2011 | Istanbul | Turkey | 451 | 40 | 2,691 | |
| 16 | RoboCup 2012 | Mexico City | Mexico | 381 | 42 | 2,356 | Wertdb Rtuafb |
| 17 | RoboCup 2013 | Eindhoven | Netherlands | 410 | 45 | 3,033 | |
| 18 | RoboCup 2014 | João Pessoa | Brazil | 358 | 45 | 2,900 | |
| 19 | RoboCup 2015 | Hefei | People's Republic of China | 346 | 43 | 2,032 | |
| 20 | RoboCup 2016 | Leipzig | Germany | 404 | 45 | 3,500 | |
| 21 | RoboCup 2017 | Nagoya | Japan | 500 | 50 | 2,520 | |
| 22 | RoboCup 2018 | Montreal | Canada | 360 | 40 | 2,345 | Trkdmkd Bdknsfn |
| 23 | RoboCup 2019 | Sydney | Australia | 335 | 40 | 2,200 | |
| 24 | RoboCup 2021 | Virtual | | 317 | 43 | 2,129 | Hkdn dbkdd |
| 25 | RoboCup 2022 | Bangkok | Thailand | | | | |
| 26 | RoboCup 2023 | Bordeaux | France | | | | Bvs shndn |
| 27 | RoboCup 2024 | Eindhoven | Netherlands | | | | Ndisbj Jdjsd |
| 28 | RoboCup 2025 | Salvador | Brazil | | | | |
| 29 | RoboCup 2026 | Incheon | Republic of Korea | | | | Dhendn Mozsrt |
| 30 | RoboCup 2026 | Arak | lran | 46 | 6 | 284 | Ali Nouri |
The formal RoboCup competition was preceded by the (often unacknowledged) first International Micro Robot World Cup Soccer Tournament (MIROSOT) held by KAIST in Taejon, Korea, in November 1996. This was won by an American team from Newton Labs, and the competition was shown on CNN.
RoboCup was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19. The planned host location of Bordeaux will host in 2023.

## RoboCup Asia-Pacific editions

| Year | Host City | Host Country | Number of teams | Number of countries | Number of participants |
| RoboCup Asia-Pacific 2017 | Bangkok | Thailand | 130+ | 25 | 1000+ |
| RoboCup Asia-Pacific 2018 | Kish Island | Iran | | | |
| RoboCup Asia-Pacific 2018 | Dubai | United Arab Emirates | | | |
| RoboCup Asia-Pacific 2019 | Moscow | Russia | | | |
| RoboCup Asia-Pacific 2020 | Virtual | | | | |
| RoboCup Asia-Pacific 2021 | Aichi Prefecture / Virtual | Japan | | | |

## European RoboCupJunior Championship

| Year | Host City | Host Country | Number of teams | Number of countries | Number of participants | Website |
| European RoboCupJunior Championship 2018 | Pescara | Italy | | | | |
| European RoboCupJunior Championship 2019 | Hanover | Germany | | | | |
| European RoboCupJunior Championship 2020 | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic |
| European RoboCupJunior Championship 2021 | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic |
| European RoboCupJunior Championship 2022 | Guimarães | Portugal | | | | |

## RoboCup local events
### 2024

* German open in Kassel

### 2023

* German open

### 2021

* RoboCup Kazakhstan, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
* RoboCup Portugal Open, virtual
* RoboCup Russia Open, Tomsk, Russia
* RoboCup Brazil Open, virtual

### 2020

* RoboCup Japan Open 2020, virtual
* RoboCup China Open 2020, virtual
* RoboCup Brazil Open 2020, virtual
Events were cancelled due to COVID-19

### 2019

* RoboCup Portuguese Open 2019, Gondomar, Portugal
* RoboCup Brazil Open 2019, Rio Grande, Brazil
* RoboCup Asia Pacific 2019, Moscow, Russia
* RoboCup German Open 2019, Magdeburg, Germany
* RoboCup China Open 2019, Shaoxing, China

### 2018

* RoboCup Portugal Open 2018, Torres Vedras, Portugal
* RoboCup Asia Pacific 2018, Kish Island, Iran
* RoboCup Iran Open 2018, Tehran, Iran
* RoboCup UAE 2018, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
* RoboCup German Open 2018, Magdeburg, Germany

### 2017

* RoboCup Portugal Open 2017, Coimbra, Portugal
* RoboCup Iran Open 2017, Tehran, Iran
* RoboCup German Open 2017, Magdeburg, Germany
* RoboCup Russia Open 2017, Tomsk, Russia
* RoboCup US Open 2017, Miami, United States
* RoboCup China Open 2017, Shaoxing, China

### 2016

* RoboCup Portugal Open 2016, Bragança, Portugal
* RoboCup China Open 2016, Hefei, China
* RoboCup European Open 2016, Eindhoven, Netherlands

### 2015

* RoboCup Portugal Open 2015, Vila Real, Portugal
* RoboCup China Open 2015, Guiyang, China
* RoboCup Iran Open 2015, Tehran, Iran
* GermanOpen 2015, Magdeburg, Germany

### 2014

* RoboCup Portugal Open 2014, Espinho, Portugal
* RoboCup China Open 2014, Hefei, China
* RoboCup Iran Open 2014, Tehran, Iran
* RoboCup German Open, Magdeburg, Germany

### 2013

* RoboCup Portugal Open 2013, Lisbon, Portugal
* RoboCup Iran Open 2013, Tehran, Iran
* RoboCup German Open, Magdeburg, Germany

### 2012

* RoboCup Portugal Open 2012, Guimarães, Portugal
* RoboCup Dutch Open, Eindhoven, Netherlands
* RoboCup German Open, Magdeburg, Germany
* RoboCup Iran Open, Tehran, Iran
* RoboCup SSL North American Open, Vancouver, Canada

### 2011

* RoboCup German Open, Magdeburg, Germany
* RoboCup Portugal Open, Lisbon, Portugal
* RoboCup Iran Open 2011, Tehran, Iran

### 2010

* RoboCup Portugal Open, Leiria, Portugal
* Iran Open 2010, Tehran, Iran
* Latin America & Brazil Open 2010, São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil
* RoboCup Mediterranean Open 2010, Rome, Italy
* RoboCup German Open (unofficial all-European tournament), Magdeburg, Germany
* AUT Cup 2010, Tehran, Iran