It’s a question that was asked by the young and elder spectators at the RomeCup 2014 that viewed the exhibition of soccer robots “trained” by the Dipartimento di Ingegneria informatica, automatica e gestionale "Antonio Ruberti" (DIAG) from Sapienza University in Rome.
Amongst the most spectacular feats was the robotic goalie diving to save a goal that was filmed by the cameras of Repubblica TV.
Nao robots, produced by Aldebaran Robots, are about half a metre high and have legs, arms, hands, sensors and the ability to interact. Their movements are controlled by a computerized brain chip located in their head.
The Nao’s secret, in fact, is the miniature Intel Atom Z530 processor that also requires very little power.
All the teams in the Standard Platform League category, use identical Nao robots, thus the focus is on their programming. The robot must be able to play soccer autonomously without any external control on a field measuring 7.4 by 5.4 metres. The games last two 10-minute halves with a half-time interval.
