As if there were not enough soccer tournaments organized around the world, there are also technological sports. China has begun to develop artificial intelligence-powered humanoid robots capable of playing soccer matches. Booster Robotics provided the hardware for four university teams in the country, leaving it in their hands to develop the algorithms that would define the robot’s behavior.
It also provided a space in which to hold the competition, which is a preview of what in the future will be the World Humanoid Robot Games, a sports meeting for robots to be held in Beijing. According to Cheng Hao, founder and CEO of Booster Robotics, there is the possibility of a future in which we will see human versus robot matches. Doesn´t this sound crazy?
Sports; the new money-making machine
Soccer is no longer just a worldwide sport. It is no longer just the dream of a boy or a girl when they are little. This sport has become a money-making machine, in which it seems that the rest of the values involved in the practice of a sport are being blurred. Tournaments, championships, leagues, cups, world cups… More and more events are presented to us as sporting exhibitions, when in reality they are nothing more than commercial events through which millions of euros are raised. Sadly, sport in general has become another form of business, and it is through soccer where it is most visible.
Technological sports
The world of technology covers more and more aspects of our lives. A few years ago, talking about technology meant talking about cell phones, computers or software. Now it has even crept into the world of sports. The irruption of AI has also played a very important role, as it has given the ability to give “life” to the hardware that has been developed so far. The world of sports has seen the creation and development of robots capable of running marathons or boxing. Saving the more than obvious distances with humans, robots have been able to perform these activities successfully.
Robotic football players
Booster Robotics is a company of Chinese origin, founded and led by Cheng Hao. Since 2023, it has been engaged in robotics with a focus on humanoid development and development platforms for artificial intelligence. It provides humanoid robots to developers and users, so that the implementation of AI is faster. This is what has happened with the members of the four teams that participated in the humanoid soccer competition.
The company provided the hardware, while they had to develop their algorithms to characterize the humanoid in aspects of strength, direction and agility. Thus, the 4 teams faced off in 3-on-3 matches, with humanoid players powered entirely by AI. Although it was only a preview of the upcoming World Humanoid Robot Games to be held in Beijing, the results were mouth-opening.
The participating robots proved to be able to identify the ball and move around the field with agility, thanks to advanced visual sensors. The most remarkable thing about this competition is that at no time did humans intervene during the game. It was a completely autonomous competition, except in moments of “injury”. Despite having been configured to stand up on their own, the assistants had to take some robots out on a stretcher to give realism to the experience.
Is this the future of football?
Thankfully, it is not. The tournament ended with the victory of THU Robotics from Tsinghua University against Mountain Sea from the Agricultural University of China with a score of 5-3. The CEO of Booster Robotice raises the possibility that in the future we will see matches between humans and robots, so he believes that these competitions are important to develop safer and safer humanoids. Maybe because China has only participated in one World Cup or because their teams do not offer strong emotions, this robotic soccer seems exciting to them, but there is nothing like a real soccer match, with players demonstrating their skills on the field.
