20 June 20, 2013 | year 55
Biweekly magazine of the Eindhoven University of Technology For news: www.cursor.tue.nl and follow tuecursor on andmm
6 | RoboCup special 3 Lowlands is watching you
4 One year on
Flip for Dutch
2 | For Starters
June 20, 2013
Doom-and-gloom time
Colophon Editor in chief Han Konings
Executive editor Brigit Span
Editorial staff Judith van Gaal Tom Jeltes | Science Frits van Otterdijk Norbine Schalij Monique van de Ven
Staff Nicole Testerink Gerard Verhoogt
Photography Rien Meulman Bart van Overbeeke
Cover David Ernst
Translation Annemarie van Limpt (pages 2,3,4,5) Benjamin Ruijsenaars (page 6,7,8)
Layout Natasha Franc
Editorial board
It’s just a few more days until everyone can assess the state of worldwide robotics in Eindhoven. The last week of June is the week of the RoboCup, and many pages in this issue are devoted to the competition. Not only the soccer robots can win awards, but care and rescue robots will also be competing. The mechanical counterparts of Van Persie and Robben may not display the most attractive spectacle, but it’s more important to see examples of the robot dribbles and passes in society, anyway. By having the robots play more and more inventively, researchers can learn a lot about the software and mechatronics that are responsible for it. After all, there’s a higher purpose behind all this fiddling. We want to be able to implement robots in healthcare to keep it affordable. I can’t really imagine a future where I’m assisted by a friendly-looking robot, let alone making conversation with it out of pure loneliness. Last week I walked past a robotic lawnmower and I couldn’t even keep a straight face then. In most SF movies that have been released over the years,
prof.dr. Cees Midden prof.dr. Hans Niemantsverdriet Angela Stevens- van Gennip Thomas Reijnaerts Arold Roestenburg Anneliese Vermeulen-Adolfs
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the symbiosis of man and machine fails inevitably, James Cameron’s Terminator possibly being the genre’s most depressing example. Who’d want Arnold Schwarzenegger at their beds with some juice and a thermometer when they’re eighty? Pondering all this made me wonder if tinkering with these cute soccer robots could be contribution to our eventual demise. Oh well, let’s not think depressing thoughts and just go and enjoy all the technological innovation next week. We’ll prolong that World Cup title for sure! For more information about the RoboCup, check pages 6, 7, and 8.
Go out and celebrate
This weekend is dedicated to pagan summer celebrations! The Swedes will start festivities on Friday already by dancing around a fertility symbol. Lithuanians will make bonfires and dance until the sun goes down. At night on Sunday, they’ll set out on a quest for the magical fern blossoms. Ah, I know I already wrote about how much I love these summer traditions… But this time I’d like to talk to you about another aspect of summer: how it gives us more time to do things. Last weekend I spent my time in nature, mostly. I went horseback riding, cycling and walking. I got up early and enjoyed my days off to the fullest. One of the things that made me tingle with joy was the fact that the days are getting longer still and that -although the cold Dutch wind reminded me that I am in the Netherlands- we are still in the build-up to summer. By the time the days get shorter again, we start losing time, too. It seems longer nights trigger some form of hibernation in us. When days are longer, on the other hand, it seems extra hours are added to our 24-hour days, and sometimes
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that’s just what we need. That’s why I love summer so much! Because it’s the season we can trick time and take more than we actually get! Maybe this summer you can use your extra time for writing your thesis, or maybe you’ll be working on some research project or important conference... Whatever it is you’ll be doing, don’t forget to use a couple of hours every day to be out and celebrate. Celebrate the fertility of nature, and enjoy the long days with your friends.
Indre Ka Interactionlinauskaite, User Sy st trainee at ID departmem ent
Our Rewwwind feature provides you with snippets of last week’s news. What happened online after the previous Cursor magazine was published?
Starting Grants for biomedical research
Early decontamination MetaForum
18 June 2013 - Two TU/e researchers have been informed that their applications for the prestigious Starting Grant of the European research Council (ERC) have been approved. Dr.ir. Remco Duits (Biomedical Engineering and Mathematics & Computer Science) will use the grant to further develop a technique for medical image analysis
18 June 2013 - Last weekend, MetaForum was thoroughly decontaminated and cleaned. From June 21-23, there will be another major cleanup weekend. Immediate cause for the cleanup is a bacterium that was found in the induction units of part of the offices in the building, which was reason for Real Estate Management (DH) to move the planned
he devised. Dr. Sandra Hofmann Boss (Biomedical Engineering) wants to expose cultured bone tissue to mechanical loads in an attempt to learn more about osteoporosis.
periodical decontamination of the climate control system forward. According to project manager ing. Marten Dijkshoorn of DH the bacterium involved is of the ‘least harmful’ kind, and only people who are hypersensitive to it will notice anything. The library and copy shop will be open during the cleanup, but all offices will be closed.
Brainmatters Psychology is becoming ever more important at TU/e. Technical systems and artifacts, be they games, cars, robots, lighting systems or buildings, are all meant for human end users eventually. It’s essential to know how these users perceive, think, feel, and act. The new human-oriented program Psychology & Technology examines every technical design from a psychological perspective. From now on, Cursor will be taking a closer psychological look at students, teachers, labs, technical artifacts, the workplace, the scientific business, campus, education, and websites.
The ten funnest rankings The twenty-five most hilarious moments on TV, the singles top fifty, the ten most poisonous snakes! You can’t turn on the TV these days without cruising past some show on rankings. And news media go with it, too. For example: last year we turned out to be the smartest region in the world; we were chosen from seven preselected regions. In education in general and at our university we love rankings, too. Recently, TU/e news headlines stated TU/e topped the Keuzegids (Selection Guide) charts of Dutch Universities of Technology once again. The best of three, mind you. Our score in the valorization ranking of universities is much more impressive. On that list - which is much longer - we’ve been the world’s number one since 2009 as far as our level of collaboration and publications with the industry is concerned. But oh well, the Times Higher Education Ranking only awarded us with a ‘114th’ position. It goes without saying we’re prouder of rankings we score well on and that involve many competitors. Those are the best lists. What’s the deal with those lists, really? They help us make order out of seeming chaos. They help us to find our position when compared to our peers. They’re reason for all kinds of emotions ranging from pride to pity. They can lead to admiration,
reward, but may also result in punishment or glee. They lie at the basis of many decisions and policy changes, sometimes even within our own institution. And these days, above all, they’re public. Fortunately, there are less abstract education lists as well. For example: what makes a good teacher in higher education? The undisputed number one in Perry den Brok, prof meta-analyses of educational research is ‘a passion essor of Ed Eindhoven ucational School of Innovation, Education. for teaching’. Two: a passion for students. And three, Photo | Bar t van Overb eeke one that will appeal to many: love for their area of expertise. Likewise, there’s a list of the worst characteristics for a teacher to have. One: poor class management. Two: lack of expertise. Three: lack of motivation. Summer break is near, so you won’t see any rankings or lists for a while. Let’s hope we’ll have a wonderful summer (top ten?). And if we don’t, there’s always the television. Watch the Tour de France and list your favorites. Good luck, I do hope you score well in your own pool ranking!
For Starters | 3
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Vox Academici Prof.dr. Martin Peterson, professor of Ethics & Technology, Department of IE&IS
Is it okay for festival wristbands to register your behavior? We all know the colorful festival wristbands that give you access to festival grounds. This year, the wristbands at Lowlands are extra special: five thousand of them will be equipped with RFID chips (radio frequency identification) that tracks the wearers. No reason for concern, says the Lowlands spokesperson, since the festival won’t have access to the data. It’s a campaign from one of the festival’s sponsors. And the sponsor wants to highlight the advantages of the chip: direct access to Facebook, creating personal playlists, and never losing your friends at a festival again. But what about people’s privacy, and how can you be sure what information is actually shared? “As long as you know what’s registered when and where, there’s no moral problem”, says prof.dr. Martin Peterson, professor of Ethics & Technology at the Department of IE&IS, to put things into perspective. “The Lowlands wristbands will only be activated if wearers scan them with a chip reader, so they decide what they want to register. Tracking visitors with hidden cameras or disclosing information that was obtained without consent would raise great concerns, of course. But with this technology the wearer knows what’s forwarded or stored and what isn’t. Awareness is key in privacy- sensitive cases like this one. Besides, wearing an RFID chip is still entirely voluntary. Everyone can still opt for a normal wristband.” “It all comes down to ‘informed consent’ really – are you aware of what happens with your data and do you consent. In everyday life we constantly agree to our data being transferred, just think of checking in with your public transport pass, or all the times you clicked
‘I agree’ on a website. But that’s where it gets risky. After all, do you really know what will happen with your personal information, or did you just tick a box without giving it a second thought? Legally speaking, the company behind the idea can’t be blamed, because you gave your consent. Morally, however, it’s a grey area. Information may be unclear purposefully, or consist of pages and pages of text that everyone knows nobody will read anyway. It’s pretty difficult to draw a clear line between what’s okay and what isn’t.” “This kind of technology is used more and more, and because it’s introduced with baby steps people tend to accept the changes more easily. Twenty years ago, we would’ve been outraged at such ‘Big Brother’ practices. Today, we already do so much that’s registered, and we are fully aware of it, too. Is that a bad thing by definition? It’s often linked to convenience. First, an organization will make sure users think of something as useful - with the wristbands, it’s a
direct connection to Facebook; with train tickets it’s the idea you won’t have to stand in line - and the year after that they’ll offer more possibilities. Eventually, it’s a win-win situation: I save time, and the company saves my personal information. Society is gradually changing and as a result,
we’ll accept people knowing where we are and what we’re doing. Practicality is more important than abstract ideals in the end. I’m not a big pop festival enthusiast, but otherwise I might have decided to walk around with one of the RFID chips. As long as the organization or sponsor is transparent, I don’t see
any harm in the idea. A message to all Lowlands visitors: don’t worry, be happy!” (NT)
“I save time, the company saves my personal information”
Martin Peterson. Photo | Bart van Overbeeke
In the summertime Exams are almost over and the summer break is approaching. More than enough reason to let go and relax a bit. There’s a wide variety of events at both TU/e and in Eindhoven. We’ve compiled this overview for your convenience. We’re not claiming it’s a comprehensive list, but we did try to pick out the best bits. Enjoy!
July 5, 2-11.59PM | ESR Thêta. Closing party ‘Miami Nice’. Thêta boat house, Kanaaldijk Zuid 50, Eindhoven. Sun, beach, water, and music are the perfect ingredients for students to unwind after the exams. www.miaminice.nl.
26-30 juni | WK Robocup. Indoor sports center and Ice sports center Eindhoven. The World RoboCup Championships is an international robot tournament with over three thousand participants from more than forty countries. Tech United, the robot team of TU/e and current world champion, hopes to prolong their title this year. www.robocup2013.org.
July 6-14 | Fellenoord Tennis Tournament. Tennis courts TU/e. A week filled with playing tennis and parties. Regional tennis players and students from all over the Netherlands compete for several titles. Go to www.opentoernooi.fellenoord.nl to see how to sign up.
June 28, 9PM | Student Garden Festival. Following the Student Room Festival (StuKafest), this year will see the first edition of the Student Garden Festival (StuTUfest) in Eindhoven. Students will be invited to a garden to see several performances, including bands like The 101’s, and Throat Wobbler Mangrove. The exact location is disclosed after signup. tinyurl.com/klq9blk
July 13 | XO Live, dance festival. This festival, formerly known as Extrema Outdoor, has booked performances by Justice, Knife Party, Major Lazer, Nicky Romero, Dada Life, Sub Focus, Solomun, and Duke Dumont. www.xofestival.nl/nl/home.
June 29-30 | National Skateboarding Championships, TU/e Avalanche Boarders. Area 51, Strijp-S, Eindhoven. The Avalanche Boarders and AREA will be organizing the Dutch Skateboarding Championships, also known as Skarea! http://avalancheboarders.nl/events/skarea/.
July 30-August 4 | Formula Student Germany. University Racing Eindhoven. URE will be competing with other university teams on the Hockenheim Ring in Germany. www.universityracing.nl.
August 2-11 | Park Hilaria, Eindhoven carnival. Because of the carnival, TU/e won’t be accessible via the Kennedylaan from July 22-August 13. www.parkhilaria.nl. July 4 | Presentation Solar Car. MetaForum, 3-5PM. Solar Team Eindhoven presents their solarpowered family car. The team will be taking part in the World Solar Challenge in Australia, where (student) teams from all over the world will be racing from Darwin to Adelaide, hoping to finish first. The competition starts on October 6 and ends on October 13. www.solarteameindhoven.nl.
July 5, 4-10PM | Closing academic year. Auditorium, Blauwe Zaal. For the first time, the Executive Board will be closing the academic year with a function. At the event, the TU/e Academic Awards 2013 will be presented, there will be a talk about the Graduate School, and professors will share their favorite music with those present.
August 19-23 | Intro. TU/e is expecting approximately 2,500 Intro students this year. During the week they’ll get to know TU/e, the city of Eindhoven and each other. And Intro Cursors will be handed out every day! Check www.tue.nl/studeren/studeren-aan-de-tue/introductie/. Photo | Bart van Overbeeke
August 29-September 1 | Formula Students Spain. University Racing Eindhoven. URE will give their all on the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain with the URE08. www.universityracing.nl
September 5 | The first Cursor of the new academic year is here!
4 | Zoom in
June 20, 2013
One year on Interviews | Norbine Schalij Photos | Bart van Overbeeke At the start of the academic year, Cursor interviewed five of the 1,308 first-year students who started at TU/e. For some, the program turned out tougher than expected, whereas others weren’t impressed by the workload. We looked them up once again and asked them how they experienced their first year.
Arjan is a real go-getter The past year, Arjan de Meijer (27) didn’t do much else but studying and playing hockey. Still, the pre-master student of Electrical Engineering doesn’t think his life is a drag at all. “This is what I want right now.” You started at pre-vocational education, then moved up from intermediate vocational education to higher vocational education, and now you’re at university. How’s TU/e been treating you? “I never thought lightly of university, but it’s even harder than I thought. I really have to give it my all. Studying takes about an entire work week for me. When I was still at the university of applied sciences, I watched a movie when I came home from class. This year however, it’s straight to my study books whenever I come home.” Did living on your own take a lot of getting used to? “No, that hasn’t been a problem. Maybe it has to do with my age. I have a great room now. I live with three flat mates and we have a beautiful balcony.” What’s your favorite spot in Eindhoven? “That’s hard to say. I go back to my
parents in Raamsdonkveer every weekend. On Friday night I have hockey training with my team at DDHC. On Saturday I often referee youth games, and on Sunday we play ourselves. I’m not really into exploring Eindhoven at the moment.” So, it’s studying during the week and playing hockey on weekends. Isn’t that boring? “I’m not a hermit or anything! I’m a member or Thor and their chapter Odin. I usually have a chat with fellow EE students and my Intro parents who are in the Odin board during the weekly ODDDDIN lunch (an acronym for ‘ODIN Doet Dinsdag Dürüm en Döner In de pauze Nuttigen’: ODIN has durum and doner lunches on Tuesdays). I’m focused on hockey and my studies right now because I want to be.” Do you have advice for students? “Take your studies seriously. The thought crossed my mind all the time: ‘What was I thinking?’ It was such hard work, I wasn’t used to that at all. But I didn’t give up, because I really want that EE degree.”
Amber learned how to plan By the end of her first six months at Industrial Design, Amber Koenders (18) had too much on her plate study-wise. But her student association chapter came to the rescue and forced her to buy a planner. And that’s how she made it through her first year after all. What’s been the best decision you made this year? “Becoming a member of SSRE. I’ve learnt a lot from everyone there and made heaps of great friends from different studies and ages. They also helped me out when I was having a hard time.” What happened? “Industrial Design involved a lot more work than I’d expected. High school was easy, but at ID you’re expected to plan six-month projects yourself. In January I had to finish a showcase and a paper, retake the Calculus exam, and take a Applied Physical Sciences exam.
It was just too much. My chapter intervened and said: ’We’re going to buy you a planner now.’ And they taught me how to plan.” How’s life in Eindhoven treating you? “I have a great time living in this house (with three fellow students, ed.). We take care of each other, eat together and always have a good time. I wouldn’t want it any other way. The Berenkuil is one of my favorite spots in Eindhoven. I go there for ID projects sometimes.” Are you still in touch with the people in your hometown Heerlen? “I see my parents every weekend, because I work at Snowworld in Heerlen. But I don’t see my old friends that much anymore. They’re all over the Netherlands now. We want to plan a reunion, but we don’t have time for that until after the summer break.”
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Victor is a busy bee Victors Stastra (18), student of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences, is still living in the same 12-m2 room he started his Eindhoven life. He’d like a larger room, but then again, he’s gone most of the time anyway. Apart from studying, his activities include committee work, a job on the side, driving lessons and weekend trips to Bennekom. How do you like Eindhoven? “If it’s cloudy and rainy Eindhoven is a nasty, ugly city. But if the sun comes out, it’s not half bad. I enjoy the squares the most – 18 September Square is right around the corner from my house. I’ve got to know Eindhoven pretty well because I live in the city center, and because I’m taking driving lessons here. Thêta is situated at a really lovely location.”
recreational rowing, really. This year, I and others organized the Industria parents’ day, and I’m also in the gala committee. I’ve worked for catering agency Mise en Place on weekends, and I’m currently working at ‘Wereldwijd Wi-Fi’ that rents mobile hotspots. We hold office in Connector. For my current job I work weekdays only, so I’m usually free to go to Bennekom for the weekend, where I still hang out with my high-school friends.” How’s your academic performance? “Just fine, actually. I’ve earned forty credits so far, and there’s still a chance for me to reach sixty. I failed one test that I hardly studied for, because it coincided with a resit. Well, maybe I let that course slide a bit anyway. The workload isn’t that bad in general.”
You’re a rower? What else do you do? “I’m in the Thêta competition, which is
Jelte still doesn’t know his way around Jelte Borsboom (18), an Automotive student from Gouda, wanted to earn as many credits as possible. He’s doing a good job so far, because he can still move on to his second year with sixty credits. How are you enjoying Eindhoven, the city of fake Belgians, as your parents like to call it? “I kind of like Eindhoven. The people are friendly and I even celebrated carnival for the first time in my life. I dressed up as Mario and had a blast. Except for Stratumseind I don’t really know the city center. I get my groceries in the Woensel shopping center, as I live right across from there. I must confess I still get lost south from the railroad tracks sometimes.” Are you still in touch with Gouda? “Definitely. I visit my parents every weekend, because I’m a cubmaster
with the scouts. And it’s partly because it gives me a chance to eat healthily and do my laundry.” Are the professors at Automotive as easy to approach as they’d promised you at the open day? “Yes, they absolutely redeemed that promise. I e-mailed professors, but I can also accost them in the hallway. I’m really happy with TU/e, although the Bachelor College is tricky business still. Whenever I try to plan electives, they often don’t match my schedule.” What do you do in your free time? “I haven’t done that much yet, because I wanted to see how I would do academically. I bought a sports pass, but I haven’t joined any sports club. I’m with Thor though, and next year I’d love to join initiatives like Ecomotive or URE.”
Christoforos found his feet The man who left his home in Greece to take up Computer Science at TU/e, Christoforos Boukouvalas (33), is too busy right now to take an hour off for a Cursor interview. But we persisted, and after a while he was so kind to answer four questions by e-mail after all. Do you feel at home in Eindhoven? “Definitely. Eindhoven is a very friendly city and I didn’t have any trouble adjusting. I’m living in a comfortable apartment with my own bathroom and kitchen right now. In my spare time, I hang out with my Greek friends and study friends from other countries. I’ve also made some Dutch friends.” Do you want to return to Padras? “I’m really focused on my studies at the moment, so there are no long-term plans for now. I’ll consider all my options after my graduation, including returning to Padras.”
How do you like TU/e? “I don’t regret my decision to apply to TU/e. It’s a high-quality university. My Bachelor’s going well so far, although it’s pretty taxing. But I believe a TU/e degree is worth a lot. I especially appreciate the fact that faculty is very approachable, and they all speak English well. I’m also impressed with the way the Department of Computer Science uses undergrad students’ feedback to improve their program.” What’s your dream for the future? “Get my degree as soon as possible, and then to become a successful scientist with a wonderful career.”
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6 | RoboCup special
June 20, 2013
RoboCup special This year, Eindhoven is the place to be for robotics. From June 26-30, the city will be hosting the 2013 RoboCup, the world championships for robotics. With robots playing soccer, care robots, and a lot, lot more. TU/e and EHV365 are in charge of the event organization.
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Defend the world title with one-touch football They were fantastic dribblers already, could hold the ball and control it backwards. Now that receiving the ball, the positional play and especially the passing has improved as well, prolonging the world title seems to be a serious option for Tech United, the TU/e robot team. “We want to knock our opponents out with one-touch football like Barcelona”, says team leader Robin Soetens. The ‘players’ of Tech United weigh only thirty-five of the maximum forty kilos permitted. Therefore as lightweights the robots from Eindhoven have to avoid personal duels and make sure they do not get bowled over. Robin Soetens, team leader of the football robots of Tech United, is full of confidence. “Our robots are very fast and maneuverable. Over the past year we have devoted a great deal of time to passing - which is the basis of our success. Last year we could only manage wall passes, whereas we are now also making triangles. This skill allows us to play like Barcelona. Keep the pitch wide with one-touch football. When attacking, you will soon be facing three defenders. Our wing player then turns round quickly, passing to the robot behind it which immediately passes the ball to the other wing player. That one then comes free in front of the goal and can shoot.”
All robots are fitted with a Kinect camera (from the Xbox game program) which enables them to estimate depth. This way a bouncing ball is no longer judged wrongly, and the players of Tech United clearly see the leather projectile.
“Passing is the basis of our success” “In order to improve our passing further, we have now come up with the ‘push’. Our robot can very swiftly make a quarter turn and make the ball bounce against its side. That works much faster than first controlling the ball and shooting only then. Every robot calculates its chances continuously thanks to its own computer and on that basis decides whether to bounce it back, hog it,
shoot or pass.” Inside his head, Soetens has been going over the coming matches of the world championship RoboCup dozens of times now. In the work lab in Gemini-Zuid, though, the team is confronted with harsh reality day in day out. The testing of the football robots does not always go as they would wish. Tinker day and night. Work on the players day and night to get them in shape in time before the kick-off. From a distance the outward appearance of the new team is not different from the heroes of Mexico City. Anyone who looks closely, though, sees that the grabs on the front are slightly shorter and positioned differently. Soetens: “We measure the position of the arms and the ball one thousand times per second. Should the ball roll away, then the wheels on the grabs spin faster and we hold the ball under control. That way the ball rolls along with the movement of the robot, for it is forbidden to clinch the ball.” Apart from strength on the ball, receiving the ball has also been improved considerably. By passing balls to the robot along a rail from different angles hundreds of times, an optimum setting has been determined. Left and right
some bits of metal have been ground off to prevent the ball from bouncing back. And the wheels at the end of the grabs are positioned higher than usual, which makes it possible to exert more pressure on the ball. During a tournament in Portugal the new ‘football shoes’ were tested successfully. “We are keeping the old grabs in reserve. If the new ones should not live up to our expectations fully, we can refit them within thirty minutes, along with the old software”, Soetens explains.
“We can football like Barcelona does” As in real football, the keeper continues to be an important outsider. This year the vision of the keeper of Tech United has been expanded to a double camera for Kinect, which now gives him a one-hundred-and-twenty-degree angle of vision. There is little use in secrecy about tactics and line-ups. Like all other competitions, the Middle-Size League in which the football robots play is based
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on development through open source. Everybody can look behind the scenes at all the other teams. Soetens: “What we used last year can now be used by many other teams as well. Using the same tools we could not get to the final anymore. Things are progressing at great speed.” The world champion regards China, Iran and Portugal as the three main challengers. Soetens looks ahead briefly. “Portugal has good positional play and scores a lot from standard situations. We shall have to defend less fiercely and make sure we do not get any free kicks against us. Our keeper is going to have a main role. Iran has physically strong players on four wheels, whereas our robots only have three. This makes them stronger in personal duels. In order to avoid this physical football, we shall need to play very nimbly. Finally, the team Water from China. While that team also plays very fast, it cannot pass as well as ours can. They do have these whirling dribblers, though, who can put other players into a shooting position. They score a lot with long shots. When we play China our keeper has to be in top shape and the rest of the team has to defend very tightly and especially not take the bait.” (FvO)
Refining the ref Tech United is not only looking for the perfect football robot. They are also chiseling away on the referee and linesmen. During the scientific challenge at the WC the TU/e team will present a project: the automatic referee. It is not so much about a robot, but more about a camera hanging above the field. It relays images to a computer with special software. The computer subsequently decides whether a ball is out of bounds and which team hit the ball last. Robin Soetens, team leader of Tech United: “It’s already working very nicely, so we’ll soon have sorted out that problem as well. In terms of technology we are way past the point reached by Blatter and Platini.” Soetens thinks that the mechanical referee still does not equal the human one. “Suppose two robots are standing against each other, will you know whether they are pushing then? A human referee can hear this, but a camera can’t. So we still need to develop a set of ears to tackle that problem. That’s why during this WC the refereeing will be done by a ‘real’ referee and an assistant referee, who will be assisted at the sideline by a third referee who will relay the referee’s decisions by laptop to the football robots on the pitch. So that they actually know whether a yellow card has been given.”
Robin Soetens, team leader of Tech United. Photo | Bart van Overbeeke.
RoboCup special | 7
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Almost touching, so human His head with two cameras has been severed. The arms hanging by its side limp, the legs slightly bent at the knees. It makes the TUlip rather a quaint figure. Still, it is being heralded as the future torchbearer of robotics. The ‘running platform’ on which all knowledge will be combined before long to beat the ruling world champion of humans in 2050. At present it is still pacing round in the arena of the clumsy scramblers. Has to find the ball within one hundred and fifty seconds, dribble across the center line and shoot at the opponent’s goal. One-to-one games. And often the duels end in a goalless draw. Simply because the ref has already blown the whistle before a shot is fired at the goal. Doctoral candidate and team leader Pieter van Zutven, who is competing in the Humanoid League with Tech United, can still muster a smile. “Last year TUlip was stable, but sluggish. Usually we did not manage the time limit. Most teams didn’t. And then the match is decided by penalties. For that reason we have now developed a great deal of software to generate other movements of the legs while still keeping the robot stable. We are testing it and we have every faith.”
In the past TUlip would balance the center of gravity of its ‘body’ over one foot. Then the very slow process for the other foot would follow. Now things are far more dynamic. Van Zutven:
The duels often end in a goalless draw “It’s moving more like a pendulum, swinging without falling over. We are stretching our robot’s capacity to the very limit. For reasons of security there is a human buddy walking behind the robot during a match, to catch it when it threatens to topple over.” The one-to-one games can be explained easily: they are very expensive. In addition
to the number of working hours, the material, maintenance and transport by airplane cost a lot of money. Van Zutven: “There is no team in this league that can afford more than one robot.” The TUlip is insured for eighty thousand euro, which is nothing compared to the legs of Messi or Ronaldo. “In our league the robot has to look human. It can only have auxiliary tools that are comparable to those of human beings. So no laser scanner, but two cameras for sight, two legs, knees, ankles and hips to walk. There’s a total of twelve ‘joints’ involved, each of which is driven by as many motors and sensors.” In the Humanoid Adult-size league, Tech United comes in the middle bracket. Eight teams are competing in this league. “This year we’re hoping to end with the best two. Team Charlie from the United States is particularly good, but not competing this year. Which is favorable for us, of course, but quite regrettable for the public, because it is a very nice robot indeed.” (FvO)
Pieter van Zutven with TUlip. Photo | Bart van Overbeeke.
‘AMIGO has become a lot more stable’ The care robot that is going to solve the ageing problem and the healthcare costs is yet to be made. Fetching a cup of coffee, cleaning the flat or making the bed? For a robot such duties continue to be rather complex. Nevertheless TU/e is making good progress with its AMIGO. Cursor was talking to Sjoerd van den Dries, Bas Coenen and Tim de Jager while they sent the care robot out for coffee. In the lab of Tech United they are perfectly on track with AMIGO. The so-called challenges coming up during the WC are being practiced one by one in these last few weeks. Being able to follow a human being, tidying up a room, fetching coffee and other household chores. Doctoral candidate Sjoerd van
AMIGO has switched to 3D navigation den Dries: “AMIGO has become a lot more stable over the past year. We’ve applied new software and hardware. For one, the steering of the arms is functioning with fewer hitches because we have exchanged the USB connection for an Ethercat connection. Another important adjustment is the laser scanner, whose height can be adjusted. First AMIGO followed the legs of the people around him. Now he’s watching the whole body, which works much better.” AMIGO came into the ring in Magdeburg at the end of April. The dress rehearsal
went satisfactorily and yielded new insights. Bas Coenen: “AMIGO possesses speech recognition. While the assignments during the challenges at the WC are given in English, in principle you can load any language into the program. Much more important, however, is the interpretation of the message you give, the semantics of the language. We still have a long way to go in that respect.” Another aspect determining the sturdiness of the robot is its ability to move through a house without damaging anything. Tim de Jager: “We switched from 2D to 3D navigation by means of Kinect, which is a considerable improvement. First AMIGO only saw the legs of the table, for instance, but ‘forgot’ the table top. The same thing happened with a hospital bed. To prevent us from having to adapt the whole environment to a robot, we are now successfully using 3D navigation.” A robot should also be capable of exploring a new environment. Van den Dries: “For this we have developed a world model, but it is not generic enough yet. It focuses on charting objects, remembering this information and predicting where a human being
is going. Still, the robot does need to have an idea of the layout of the space beforehand. Where are the kitchen, the living-room and the bedroom? We still program that first, although the way we represent this has been made more generic. That is an important step.” In practice Tech United is making a 2D map of the space during a demonstration. The robot is placed in it and explores the environment itself with equipment
including a laser scanner. Within a minute a ‘map’ is built up. A window or a door that is ajar can still cause errors, because the laser scanner and sensors do not recognize them as such. These are minor flaws that do need to be eliminated, for it is crucial that the robot should know where exactly it is - otherwise there will be many tasks it cannot perform. The team around AMIGO has high hopes
of ending with the best five during the WC, in which case it will be carrying out the most difficult challenges in a final. Coenen: “Last year we finished in seventh place, with a little bit of luck. To make it to the final now would be so nice. Although we have to be realistic, it can be done.” (FvO)
Sjoerd van den Dries (right) and Tim de Jager with AMIGO. Photo | Bart van Overbeeke.
8 | RoboCup special
June 20, 2013
‘Sharing knowledge more important than winning’ After a number of lost finals, at last they hit the jackpot in Mexico City last year. The robot footballers of Tech United won the title during the WC RoboCup. Which took a load off the shoulders of René van de Molengraft. Yet the technical director of the team knows better than anyone else that staying at the top is often more difficult than getting there. Putting in eighty hours a week on preparations for the WC, Van de Molengraft looks remarkably cheerful. How could he not. By fetching in the RoboCup 2013, Tech United is attaining an all-time high. Whilst the technical director is also pleased with all the attention for the tournament, he is looking ahead at the same time. For RoboCup serves a higher purpose. By entering the competition and sharing knowledge, the contestants hope to increase the skills of robots at a rapid pace.
Improving a robot is a highly complex matter, the technical director adds. “Thus, in the Humanoid League we are still working on locomotion. It is difficult to get the balance and the dynamic walking of a robot right. I think we’ll need five to ten years more before we have reached that point. Still, once we get there in 2023, we’re going to combine all the techniques from the other leagues with that fantastic locomotion platform of the running
robot. Then things could really start to go fast. And suppose the integration of all those complex techniques takes another ten years. That would take us to 2033, which means we would still have seventeen years to go. Every league is solving a part of the problem and in the end it will all come together. Really, we have come a long way even now.” For Van de Molengraft the RoboCup is definitely more than just winning. “A strong aspect of the RoboCup is knowledge sharing. One team is good in perception, another one in manipulation and a third in cognition. If you add all those developments together every year, a robot can suddenly do things that you would never be able to achieve so fast on your own. Per competition road maps are made for the short and medium
term, say five years. A group of professors forms the international RoboCup federation, which keeps the overview of all those road maps. Through regulations they enforce a certain focus for each competition. For example, the simulation league concentrates on strategy, combined play and artificial intelligence. The Middle-size League devotes attention to sensors, actuators, mechatronic designs and mechanisms. And the competition @Home tries to raise the cognitive capacity of a robot.”
we have reached a crossover point. Now the media are phoning us. We can at last generate attention to what we can do and where we want to go. Naturally we are aware of the discussion about the dangers, like the one going on about drones today. Each technology can be abused, but more than anything else we want to show the awesome things that robotics has to offer.” (FvO)
Is Tech United going to be world champion again or is Tech United contending with the dialectics of progress? “It’s difficult to stay at the top. Having said that, we have managed to remain there for five, six years on end. As world champion
A strong point of the RoboCup is the sharing of knowledge The aim is in 2050 with robots to beat the football world champion. Which point of the route has been reached by robotics at present? “Every year we are making huge leaps forward in all fifteen kinds of competitions. Two years ago we did not even fit into the Middle-size League (MSL) in which we are the world champion now. Last year we came out best. And this year we are not only passing the ball between two players, but making triangles as well. You see enormous progression in the game, in all the competitions. We’re taking a big step towards 2050 every year. And in fact it is immaterial whether we can already beat the human world champion then. The most fascinating achievement is that we have the gradient right, which is very good indeed. I see the progression and can define it. Each team writes a paper each year with demonstrable improvements. You can deduce the pace of the development from that very well.” René van de Molengraft at the Indoor Sports Center, where the RoboCup will start next week. Photo | Bart van Overbeeke.