Professor Manuela Veloso, co-founder of RoboCup, recounts the origins of the international robotics competition from the mid-1990s, when researchers at Carnegie Mellon, Japan, and Canada were independently exploring autonomous robot soccer. She describes how the first three leagues (small size, middle size, and simulation) were established in 1997 at IJCAI in Osaka, and how the competition expanded over the years to include rescue, logistics, @home, and junior leagues. Veloso also explains the recent strategic decision to focus RoboCup international competitions exclusively on humanoid robot soccer, citing the growing availability of commercial humanoid platforms and the need to reinvigorate the community around the original 2050 goal of robots playing alongside humans.
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