In 2027, it must happen. Sioux and PSV winning the RoboCup. The team of Sioux engineers that wants to make this happen has recently started working hard and will enter the arena of this an international competition for soccer robots next year. Why this ambition, what is the added value for Sioux? Initiator Xi Luo: ‘We want to show what we do and can do. Above all, it's also fun.'
The RoboCup is not new. The first official edition was organized back in 1997. Its aim: to promote and stimulate technological developments in robotics and artificial intelligence through an attractive and challenging application. The competition was an instant success, and it still is. Starting next year, Sioux will join this global competition at the intersection of high-tech and sports. How did the idea come about?
Xi Luo, System Designer Mechatronics at Sioux: ‘During several events we organized at Sioux, I saw the fascination of visitors, adults and children, for the advanced technology we are involved in. That is wonderful. Every engineer wants to create something beautiful and show it to the world. For us, however, this is not always easy. Much of what we do, for example for the semicon and analytical industries, remains invisible or intangible to the general public. By participating in the RoboCup, we can share our passion for innovation and groundbreaking technology and show what we are capable of.'
In 1997, the world was introduced to artificial intelligence when IBM's Deep Blue defeated grandmaster Garry Kasparov in a chess match. Later, DeepMind Technologies' AlphaGo won from the world's number one Go player. Machines successfully challenged humans in these intelligence sports. That caused a lot of discussions and it generated a lot of excitement. The dot on the horizon of the RoboCup is robots playing against humans in a physical sport, thinking and acting on an equal level so they can play soccer together. ‘That's a fascinating vision of the future - it will make us think even more about the difference is between humans and machines,’ Luo said. 'But it's also incredibly fun. Sioux wants to contribute to making that future a reality.'
The next revolution in AI is in the making. The buzz word of the moment is Embodied AI. This involves combining artificial intelligence with a physical body: a robot. This is massively changing the way robots are developed. They are becoming smarter and more capable. This also opens up exciting new possibilities regarding the skill and performance of soccer robots.
Luo: ‘This is therefore a great time for Sioux to enter the competition and make rapid progress. Building soccer robots and making them function as a successful autonomous team is a big challenge. We are going to bring together a lot of state-of-the-art technology: high-precision motion control, optimization, model-based software design, machine learning, digital twinning, edge computing... Our advantage: we have vast knowledge in all these areas and can build on a great deal of experience in applying them. That's what sets us apart from the rest. Moreover, we are the only team that has joined forces with a professional soccer club: PSV. That too makes us unique.'
‘A brilliant idea.’ That's how Luo calls the collaboration of Sioux and PSV within the RoboCup team. With this joining of forces, Sioux not only commits to the soccer club as a sponsor. A bridge is also being built between Sioux's engineers and PSV Academy and thus between soccer robots and real people playing soccer. We can learn from each other. For instance, Sioux will use PSV's statistics and advanced data analysis to access each robot's performance and formulate the RoboCup team's tactics. This will take the game to the next level.
Where does the RoboCup team currently stand? Sioux is a big company with huge competences in hardware, software, electronics and mathware, Luo emphasises first of all. These are crucial for creating high-performance robots. Combining high-tech, high- fun and high-value is also a high priority at Sioux. There is therefore no shortage of enthusiastic people who can and want to contribute. The team has now been formed and the work is done in the participants' free time. Nevertheless, the RoboCup team has got off to a flying start.
‘We are building the technology for the RoboCup from scratch,’ Luo says. 'In doing so, we use existing solutions but also explore new ones. We do this in complete freedom, which unleashes creativity. This is how we speed up, for example in choices regarding components, design principles, the calculation platform and a simulation framework. We have already started building two prototype soccer robots. These will be ready by the end of this year. July 2025, we will enter the arena of the RoboCup in Brazil for the first time with a complete team, where we want to come out strong. However, that is just the beginning.'
Sioux and PSV are raising the bar. In 2027, they want to win the RoboCup, and in the most challenging category: the Middle Size League. In this, teams of five fully autonomous robots play soccer with an official FIFA soccer ball. This ambition is not unrealistic according to Luo. ‘As a new team, we start with a blank canvas on which we will apply the latest technologies in robotics and AI.’ A second advantage he mentions is Sioux's track record in motion control - highly accurate movement on a sub-micrometer scale in microseconds. In addition, the team leverages the company's assets to go from development and design to a high-quality robot team. Moreover, there is the support of PSV's professionals who know what it takes to win a football match.
Luo: ‘Sioux brings high-tech to life, we are going to do the same in this case. Meanwhile, we are going to learn a lot and have a lot of fun. In addition, participating in the RoboCup offers us commercial opportunities. It is sometimes difficult for potential customers to relate to the complex high-tech environments in which we work. By demonstrating our competences in a popular sport like the RoboCup, we are showing at an international level what we as Sioux have to offer.'
