Iran Robotic Team Stands First in U.S. Robocup
The search-and-rescue prototype, designed by the Sharif University, was recognized as the best robot among six competing machines --five from the U.S. and one from the UK-- and won the top prize for the best artificial intelligence.
The robots had been programmed to search for probable injured people on a hypothetical quake-stricken and totally bumpy land, independent from human steering.
The Iranian robot managed to identify the highest number of the injured.
A record 111 robotic teams from universities in 23 countries compete from August 2 to 10 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle. It runs concurrent with the American Association for Artificial Intelligence's Annual Conference.
"This is the largest and the most important robot competition in the world," Tucker Balch, a research scientist at Carnegie Mellon University and associate chair of this year's Robocup was cited as saying.
Teams from Iran and Germany are the favorites in the Middle-Size (F-2000) League.
Other teams to watch this year include Cornell's Big Red, the two-time defending champion in the Small-Size (F-180) League and a rival team from Carnegie Mellon, playing in several categories.
The Australian University of New South Wales will defend its title in the Sony Legged (AIBO) League.