RoboCup@Home Education
Online Challenge 2021

SAFETY FIRST

All the proposed activities must be performed in compliance with local regulations and safety procedures, specially those related to COVID-19 limitations. Students are invited to work and interact remotely with organizers of the challenge and among themselves. We hope everyone can continue RoboCup development and challenges while keeping safe and healthy at home.

RoboCup@Home Education Online Challenge 2021

Despite the postponement of the RoboCup 2021 event, our committee is taking extra efforts to organize activities to keep our community together while upholding our educational mission. With the huge success of last year Online Challenge 2020, we propose to continue the RoboCup@Home Education Online Challenge 2021 this year in promoting learning at home amid the current global pandemic situation. The event includes a series of robot building short courses for beginners via online classroom, technical awards challenge and live streaming of remote participation online challenge. We hope everyone can continue RoboCup development and challenges while keeping safe and healthy at home.

With that, we are proud to announce the RoboCup@Home Education Online Challenge 2021!

Event Details

Organized by

RoboCup@Home Education OC

  • Jeffrey Too Chuan Tan

  • Luca Iocchi

  • Amy Eguchi

  • Kanjanapan Sukvichai

  • Yoshinobu Hagiwara

Supported by

  • RoboCup Federation

  • RoboCup 2021 LOC

Sponsors and Technical Partners

  • SoftBank Robotics

  • MathWorks

  • Jupiter Robot

Date

  • Online Classroom: March 24 ~ May 2021

  • Technical Awards Challenge: May 24, 2021

  • Online Challenge: (RoboCup week)

    • Final Standard Platform - June 26, 2021

    • Final Open Platform - June 27, 2021

  • Awards Ceremony: June 27, 2021

Categories

Open Platform (OP) [Custom Build Robots]

  • Open category

  • Junior category

Standard Platform (SP) [Pepper Robot]

  • Open category

  • Junior category

Rules

RoboCup@Home Education Challenge 2021 Rules

Rules 2021 | @Home 2019 Rulebook

*** The purpose of the Education Challenge is to open participation for everyone, especially novice and non-expert participants with no past experience. Although we don’t conduct the qualification procedure this time, we will comply with the Eligibility and Qualification policy in the Rules 2021 in the reviews of the challenges. ***

Venue

  • Online

Competition Awards

Open Platform

  • Open Category

  • Junior Category

Standard Platform

  • Open Category

  • Junior Category

Technical Awards

Open Platform

  • Best Technical Video Award

  • Best Technical Paper Award

  • Best Education Award

Standard Platform

  • Best Technical Video Award

  • Best Technical Paper Award

  • Best Education Award

*** Thank you our sponsors for the awards! ***

People's Choice Awards

Apart from all the competition awards that are based on technical assessments, we are proposing two new People's Choice Awards in the Online Challenge 2021 in order to involve the general public's opinion towards our development.

Open Platform: People's Choice Award

Standard Platform: People's Choice Award

One core criterion of service robot development is the acceptance and usability by the general public, because ultimately most of the service robots are supposed to service the public. By leverage the event online platforms and online community this time, the People's Choice Awards are selected based on:

  1. Total number of "Likes", "Comments" and "Shares" of team Technical Videos (until June 25, 2021 23:59 GMT+8)

  2. Number of votes via the Finals Polling (June 26 ~ 27, 2021)

    • Attend the Finals and vote (Open for Public)

Teams with the highest total of all the above numbers will be the winner of the People's Choice Awards. However, certain counts may be voided if an abuse case arises. *Important* The organizing committee reserves the right on the final decision of the award winners with no objection accepted.

Finalists

Support (Like, Comment, Share) your favorite teams for the People's Choice Awards!

Open Platform

< Open Category >

  • OPO-01 The essence of the grey region (Macau Pui Ching Middle School) | Macau

  • OPO-02 UTAR Service Robot (Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman) | Malaysia

  • OPO-03 UBC Open Robotics (University of British Columbia) | Canada

  • OPO-04 DisasterBots (Rey Juan Carlos University) | Spain

  • OPO-05 RoboCup UTHM (Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia) | Malaysia

  • OPO-06 Skuba-Jr (Kasetsart University) | Thailand

  • OPO-07 Olmeca Team (Universidad Tecnológica del Sureste de Veracruz) | Mexico

  • OPO-08 eR@sers Education (Tamagawa University) | Japan

< Junior Category >

  • OPJ-01 PC FBOT (Macau Pui Ching Middle School) | Macau

  • OPJ-02 Try Forever (Macau Pui Ching Middle School) | Macau

  • OPJ-03 Anti epidemic vanguard (The High School Affiliated to Xi'an JiaoTong University) | China

  • OPJ-04 Bishop's Knights (The Bishop's School La Jolla) | USA

  • OPJ-05 DL8Z (Dalian No.8 Senior Middle School) | China

  • OPJ-06 Jiaxing Technician Institute (Jiaxing Technician Institute) | China

  • OPJ-07 Karthick Brothers (Kshatriya Vidhya Sala English Medium School) | India


** The team numbers are not related to team performance. **

Standard Platform

< Open Category >

  • SPO-01 Layout Group (Jinling Institute of Technology) | China

  • SPO-02 KU Robotics (Khatam University) | Iran

  • SPO-03 FaEnova (Beijing Information Science and Technology University) | China

< Junior Category >

  • SPJ-01 Little Sage (Qixian Central Primary School) | China

  • SPJ-02 xjrobotics (Hangzhou Xuejun High School) | China

  • SPJ-03 The Hony Boys (Dongcheng Middle School of Hangzhou Normal University) | China

  • SPJ-04 MICRO RCST (Hangzhou Changhe High School) | China

  • SPJ-05 JiangNan (Hangzhou Jiangnan Experimental School of Zhejiang) | China

  • SPJ-06 JiangNan2 (Hangzhou Jiangnan Experimental School of Zhejiang) | China

  • SPJ-07 Diamond (Huzhou No.2 High School) | China

  • SPJ-08 ShuRen star team (Junior Middle School Department of Yiwu Shuren Middle School) | China

  • SPJ-09 Gang (Taizhou Bilingual School) | China

  • SPJ-10 A.T.I.I (Taizhou Bilingual School) | China

  • SPJ-11 Light (The High School Attached to Zhejiang University) | China

  • SPJ-12 LittleBoy (The High School Attached to Zhejiang University) | China

  • SPJ-13 Pepper Terminal Multifunctional Service Robot (High School Affiliated to Zhejiang Normal University) | China

  • SPJ-14 Pepper Hospital Food Service Robot (High School Affiliated to Zhejiang Normal University) | China

  • SPJ-15 Greentown 01 (Greentown Yuhua Qinqin School) | China

  • SPJ-16 Greentown 02 (Greentown Yuhua Qinqin School) | China

Results

Open Platform

<< OPEN PLATFORM - Junior Category >>

= 1st Place =

OPJ-03 Anti epidemic vanguard
The High School Affiliated to Xi'an JiaoTong University | China

= 2nd Place =

OPJ-02 Try Forever
Macau Pui Ching Middle School | Macau

= 3rd Place =

OPJ-05 DL8Z
Dalian No.8 Senior Middle School | China


<< OPEN PLATFORM - Open Category >>

= 1st Place (Joint) =

OPO-08 eR@sers Education
Tamagawa University | Japan

= 1st Place (Joint) =

OPO-01 The essence of the grey region
Macau Pui Ching Middle School | Macau

= 3rd Place =

OPO-02 UTAR Service Robot
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman | Malaysia


<< Technical Awards >>

= Best Technical Video Award =

OPJ-03 Anti epidemic vanguard
The High School Affiliated to Xi'an JiaoTong University | China

= Best Technical Paper Award =

OPO-06 Skuba-Jr
Kasetsart University | Thailand

= Best Education Award =

OPO-08 eR@sers Education
Tamagawa University | Japan


<< People's Choice Awards >>

= OP: People's Choice Award =

OPO-06 Skuba-Jr
Kasetsart University | Thailand

Standard Platform

<< STANDARD PLATFORM - Junior Category >>

= 1st Place =

SPJ-07 Diamond
Huzhou No.2 High School | China

= 2nd Place =

SPJ-09 Gang
Taizhou Bilingual School | China

= 3rd Place =

SPJ-04 MICRO RCST
Hangzhou Changhe High School | China

= 4th Place =

SPJ-12 LittleBoy
The High School Attached to Zhejiang University | China


<< STANDARD PLATFORM - Open Category >>

= 1st Place =

SPO-01 Layout Group
Jinling Institute of Technology | China


<< Technical Awards >>

= Best Technical Video Award =

SPO-02 KU Robotics
Khatam University | Iran

= Best Technical Paper Award =

SPJ-11 Light
The High School Attached to Zhejiang University | China

= Best Education Award =

SPJ-01 Little Sage
Qixian Central Primary School | China


<< People's Choice Awards >>

= SP: People's Choice Award =

SPJ-07 Diamond
Huzhou No.2 High School | China

Jury Members

  1. Luca Iocchi | Sapienza University of Rome (Italy) Jury Chair (Open Category)

  2. Amy Eguchi | University of California, San Diego (USA) Jury Chair (Junior Category)

  3. Mohd Azizi Abdul Rahman | Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (Malaysia)

  4. Kanjanapan Sukvichai | Kasetsart University (Thailand)

  5. William Tan | ITE College West (Singapore)

  6. Sebastian Castro | MIT CSAIL (USA)

  7. Govindan Nair | AI Academy (Malaysia)

  8. Austin Fu | SoftBank Robotics (China)

  9. Lucia Liu | Jupiter Robot (China)

Schedule

Setup Day - 24 June 2021 (Thu)

Day 1: SP Final - 26 June 2021 (Sat)

Day 2: OP Final and Awards Ceremony - 27 June 2021 (Sun)

Online Classroom

Open Platform Online Classroom [English]

  • Every Monday | Mar 29 ~ Apr 26, 2021 19:30~ (GMT+8)

Standard Platform Pepper 2.5 Online Classroom [English]

  • Every Thursday | Apr 01 ~ Apr 29, 2021 19:30~ (GMT+8)

Open Platform Online Classroom [Chinese]

  • Every Wednesday | Mar 31 ~ Apr 28, 2021 19:30~ (GMT+8)

Standard Platform Pepper 2.5 Online Classroom [Chinese]

  • Every Tuesday | Mar 30 ~ Apr 27, 2021 19:30~ (GMT+8)

Robot Development Support (Optional)

  • Team development: March 24 ~ May 16, 2021

  • Submission of support materials: May 16, 2021

  • Robot and video support: May 17 ~ May 23, 2021

Technical Awards Challenge

  • Submission: May 24, 2021

  • Review: May 24 ~ 30, 2021

Online Challenge (Finals)

  • Date: RoboCup week (June 22 ~ 28, 2021)

    • Setup Day: June 24, 2021

    • Day 1 SP Final: June 26, 2021 (Sat) 7pm - 10pm (UTC+8)

    • Day 2 OP Final & Awards Ceremony: June 27, 2021 (Sun) 7pm - 11pm (UTC+8)

How to Participate

Step 0 - Online Challenge 2021 Kick-Off Webinar

Attend the Online Challenge 2021 Kick-Off Webinar for the introduction and details of the entire event.

  • Date: March 24, 2021 (Wed)

  • Time: 9:00 pm - 10:30 pm (GMT+8)

Webinar video record and information: https://robotforall.net/courses/kick-off-webinar-introduction-online-challenge-2021/


Step 1 - Entry Application and Online Classroom

Fill in and submit the online entry form (one per team). If you still have any difficulty submitting online, please contact oc@robocupathomeedu.org.

Online Entry Form: https://forms.office.com/r/TX6uWCuD7p

Attend the online classroom especially for beginners to learn how to develop for the online challenge at home. If you couldn't attend the classes or the class timing is not suitable for your region, there are also recorded videos and class notes posted after each class. Make full use of the materials to learn robot development at home.

Online Challenge 2021 Online Classroom: https://www.robocupathomeedu.org/learn/online-classroom/online-challenge-2021


Step 1.5 - Robot Development Support (Optional)

*For teams who do not have / not able to access own robot*

  • Learn robot development from the online classroom and support materials. Develop robot with simple hardware and simulator at home.

  • Produce videos and documentation to prove robot development.

  • Submit source code and all supporting materials for review.

  • If selected, our robot sponsors (SoftBank Robotics and Jupiter Robot) will support robot executions and video recordings.


Step 2 - Technical Awards Challenge

Develop your robot and produce 1. Technical Video and 2. Technical Paper of your best robot performance. You can develop your robot based on the following themes (either one):

  • Solving the competition tasks in the Rules 2021.

  • Open scenario based on the Finals in the Rules 2021.

  • Robot applications to address the current COVID-19 pandemic situation (based on Finals in the Rules 2021).

*** For more details, please refer to the Rules page.

(Optional) 3. Team Website showing the educational efforts of team in promoting education of technical development. E.g. open source code with development guides and tutorials (in text or video), learning course materials, online classroom etc.

After submitting the entry application, please prepare the Technical Awards Challenge materials and submit before the following due date.

Due of Technical Awards Challenge Materials Submission: May 24, 2021

Technical Awards Challenge Materials

  1. Technical Video: Video showing the best robot performance.

  2. Technical Paper: Technical report and photo of the robot system and operation in the video.

  3. Team Website for Best Education Award. (Optional)

** Technical Video: Format mp4, minimum resolution 1080p, English subtitles for non-English contents.

** Please host the video file online and submit only the download link.

** Technical Paper: Free format (recommended to use @Home TDP format), maximum A4 size 4 pages.

Submission Site: Submission - Online Challenge 2021


Step 3 - Online Challenge (Finals)

The Technical Awards Challenge entries will be reviewed to select teams for the final Online Challenge. Selected teams will give presentation and robot demonstration remotely via live streaming for the Online Challenge during the RoboCup week.

All selected teams are required to complete RoboCup 2021 registration before the deadline on June 7, 2021.

RoboCup 2021 Registration: https://2021.robocup.org/participants/registration-process-and-fees

Important Dates

Entry Application: March 1 ~ May 24, 2021

Online Classroom: March 24 ~ May 2021

Due of Technical Awards Challenge Materials Submission: May 24, 2021

Technical Awards Challenge Review: May 24 ~ 30, 2021

RoboCup 2021 Registration Deadline: June 7, 2021

Online Challenge: June 26 ~ 27, 2021

Organized by

Supported by