Are ROBOTS England's best chance of winning in Brazil? Mechanical football players gear up for the droid World Cup
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Brazil's World Cup may be in full swing, but teams of robotic players are busy warming up to be in with a chance of lifting another trophy.
The mechanical teams are set to battle it out on the pitch in a less well-known football tournament also taking place in Brazil this summer.
A group of five humanoid 'Drake' robots will compete as a team at the RoboCup 2014, which kicks off in Joao Pessoa on 21 July.
Team photo: Mechanical robots are set to battle it out on the pitch in another less-known football tournament that is taking place in Brazil this summer
WHAT IS THE ROBOCUP?
RoboCup is an annual international robotics competition founded in 1997.
It aims to promote robotics and artificial intelligence research.
The official goal of the project is that by 2050 a team of fully autonomous humanoid football players will be able to compete against the most recent winning team of the real Wolrd Cup - and comply to all of Fifa's rules.
There are five leagues in RoboCup soccer.
One of them sees identical robots with differing software battling it out on the pitch, while those competing in the Humanoid League - such as the robots from Plymouth - can look different.
The competition will see teams from all over the world including the USA, Japan and China, battle it out over five leagues to see who is best on the field.
The team from Plymouth University is one of three to compete from the UK, and the students' humanoid robots are made using cutting-edge technology.
The robots have all-player tracking, a new inertial motion unit with which to navigate the pitch, as well as new gait design to help them manoeuvre and kick the ball with ease.
They communicate with each other during games using Wi-Fi.
Handball! A team of five humanoid 'Drake' robots (pictured) will compete as a team at Robocup 2014, which will kick off in Joal Pessao on 21 July
Hi-tech: The robots (pictured) have all-player tracking, a new inertial motion unit, new gait design and can communicate with each other during games using Wi-Fi
While the team might not look exactly human, the robots do come with their own looks, with one flamboyant player sporting a monocle, top hat and moustache.
'Robocup is the pinnacle of robotics competitions and a great opportunity for us to demonstrate Plymouth's expertise in the field to a global audience,' said Dr Phil Culverhouse from the university's Centre for Robotics and Neural Systems.
'We have some fantastic new additions to the robots for 2014 and are heading to Brazil with the realistic ambition of at least finishing in the top 10.'
'It is also fantastic that we get to experience some of the World Cup fever currently gripping Brazil and are hoping to cause a real stir among our fellow competitors and fans at the event.'
The Robocup began in 1997 with the goal of 'developing by 2050 a Robot Soccer team capable of winning against the human team champion of the FIFA World Cup'.
Team spirit: The team from Plymouth University (pictured) is one of three to compete from the UK and the students' humanoid robots are using some cutting-edge technology
A right character: While the team might not look exactly human, they do come with their own looks, with one flamboyant player sporting a monocle, top hat and moustache (pictured)
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