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, Universityof
