RoboCup2000,theFourthRobotWorldCupSoccerGamesandConferences, washeldfromAugust27thtoSeptember3rd,2000,attheMelbourneExhi- tionCenterinMelbourne,Australia. LikethepreviousinternationalRoboCup events RoboCup97 in Nagoya, Japan; RoboCup98 in Paris, France; and RoboCup99inStockholm,Sweden RoboCup2000includedatechnicalwo- shopaswellasseveralroboticsoccercompetitions. RoboCup2000introduced the?rstRoboCupJr. competitionforchildren,aswellasdemonstrationsof humanoidrobotsandoftheRoboCup-Rescuedisasterrescuesimulator. ThisbookdocumentsRoboCup2000. Itconsistsof(i)anoverview;(ii)ch- pionshippapersbythewinnersofthecompetitions;(iii)the?nalistpapersfor theRoboCupchallengeawards;(iv)thepapersandposterspresentedatthe workshop;and(v)descriptionsoftheteamsthatcompeted. Thebookbeginswithanoverviewarticleintroducingthecompetitionsand demonstrationsandincludingthescoresofallofthegamesinthefourc- petitionleagues:thesimulationleague,thesmall-sizerobot(F180)league,the middle-sizerobot(F2000)league,andtheSonyleggedrobotleague. Thefoll- ingsectionpresentsthechampionshippapersfromthewinnersoftheseleagues. TheRoboCupchallengeawardsaredistinctionsthataregivenannuallyto theRoboCup-relatedresearcherswiththegreatestpotentialtoadvancetheir respective?elds. InRoboCup2000,thechallengeaward?nalistswereselected fromamongtheworkshoppapers. Thefourselected?nalistpapersappearin thenextsection. TheannualRoboCupworkshopprovidesaforumforRoboCupresearchers toexchangeideasthataregenerallyapplicableacrossthedi?erentRoboCup leaguesand/orthatareofgeneralscienti?cinterest. TheRoboCup2000wo- shopreceivedmorethan60submissions,fromwhich20wereselectedforfull presentationandanadditional20wereselectedforposterpresentation. These researchpapersformthemainbodyofthisbook. Thebookconcludeswithdescriptionsofmostofthemorethan80teams thatcompetedinRoboCup2000. Theseteamdescriptionsservetocatalogthe fullrangeofresearchersandapproachesthathavebeenappliedtothechallenges putforthbyRoboCup. ThenextinternationalRoboCupeventswillbeheldinSeattle,USA(2001) andinFukuoka,Japan(2002). InadditiontoallexistingRoboCupevents,they arescheduledtointroduce(i)RoboCup-Rescuedisasterrescuecompetitionsfor thetransferofideasandtechniquesdevelopedinthesoccerdomaintoarelated task,and(ii)ahumanoidrobotcompetitionasasteptowardsthelong-termgoal ofcreatingafullteamofhumanoidrobotsthatcompeteonarealsoccer?eld. Welookforwardtocontinuingresearchinnovationsandexcitingdemonstrations ofroboticsandAItechnologyintheseandotherfutureRoboCupevents. March2000 PeterStone,TuckerBalch,andGerhardKraetzschmar RoboCupFederation TheRoboCupFederation,thegoverningbodyofRoboCup,isaninternational organizationthatpromotesscienceandtechnologyusingsoccergamesbyrobots andsoftwareagents. President: HiroakiKitano,JapanScienceandTechnologyCorporation,Japan Vice-Presidents: MinoruAsada,OsakaUniversity,Japan EnricoPagello,UniversityofPadua,Italy ManuelaVeloso,CarnegieMellonUniversity,USA Trustees: Hans-DieterBurkhard,HumboldtUniversity,Germany SilviaCoradeschi,OrebroUniversity,Sweden DominiqueDuhaut,UniversityofSouthernBretagne,France FransGroen,UniversityofAmsterdam,TheNetherlands AndrewJennings,RoyalMelbourneInstituteofTechnology,Australia MilindTambe,UniversityofSouthernCalifornia,USA ExecutiveCommittee: TuckerBalch,CarnegieMellonUniversity,USA AndreasBirk,FreeUniversityofBrussels,Belgium MasahiroFujita,SonyCorp. ,Japan GerhardKraetzschmar,UniversityofUlm,Germany PaulLevi,UniversityofStuttgart,Germany PedroLima,ISR/IST,TechnicalUniversityofLisbon,Portugal HenrikLund,UniversityofSouthernDenmark,Denmark DanieleNardi,UniversityofRome LaSapienza ,Italy ItsukiNoda,ETL,Japan DanielPolani,Lub eckUniversity,Germany Raul Rojas,UniversityofBerlin,Germany PeterStone,AT&TLabs Research,USA SatoshiTadokoro,KobeUniversity,Japan GordonWyeth,UniversityofQueensland,Australia AdvisoryCommittee: LuigiaCarlucciAiello,Universit adiRoma LaSapienza ,Italy DanielBobrow,XEROXPARC,USA MichaelBrady,OxfordUniversity,UK ToshioFukuda,NagoyaUniversity,Japan MichaelP.
