By: Evan Lerner
The University of Pennsylvania’s robotic soccer team continues its international reign, winning the Robot Soccer World Cup AdultSize Humanoid League for the second year in a row.
Its robot, THORwIn, a collaboration with UCLA, beat Iran’s Team Baset in a 5-4 shootout.
Coached by Daniel Lee, director of the School of Engineering and Applied Science’s GRASP Lab, the team consists of Steve McGill, Seung-Joon Yi, Heejin Jeong, Jinwook Huh, Marcell Missura, Dickens He, Sagar Poudel, Jianqiao Li, Yongbo Qian, Rachel Han, Kyuil Lee and Austin Small…
RoboCup’s ultimate vision is for its champion robotic players to hold their own against their flesh-and-blood counterparts. Penn’s division, the AdultSize Humanoid League, is closest yet to this lofty goal. At 4 feet tall, these robots are much more challenging to design and build than their “KidSize” counterparts; it’s a longer, heavier fall if one should tip over.
Owing to their size, weight, and expense, AdultSize league games are one-on-one. Teams take turns dribbling the ball past stationary objects and shooting against the opponent’s goalkeeper. THORwIn ultimately topped the field of six, besting teams from Japan, Iran, China, and Taiwan.
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