Kick optimization by improving stability and effective soccer strategy through communication

Abstract

The NAO robot has been competing in the Robocup since its public release in 2008. The robot’s abilities and the seriousness of the game have evolved greatly over the years. Our goal is to improve upon established NAO soccer abilities. The NAO robot is tasked with kicking the ball, maintaining stability with its arms behind its back, and communicating the position of the opponent and itself in respect to the field. These tasks were accomplished using a visual programming software called Choregraphe developed by SoftBank Robotics. Actions and behaviors provided by the software were utilized in addition to Choregraphe’s coding language, Python, to complete the jobs.