Co-ordination in RoboCup's 2D simulation league: Setplays as flexible, multi-robot plans

Abstract

Strategic planning and multi-agent coordination are major research topics in the domain of RoboCup. Research was, in the first years, directed towards development of low level skills and positional co-ordination. The competitive level has in between risen to new standards, which makes the development of highlevel co-operation necessary. The importance of the concept of Setplay, i.e., small multirobot plans to deal with particular situations, to structure a robotic soccer team behaviour, has been acknowledged by many researchers, but no general framework for the development and execution of generic Setplays has been introduced in the context of RoboCup. This paper presents such a framework for high-level Setplay definition and execution in the 2D simulation league, though applicable to any RoboCup co-operative league and similar domains. The framework is built upon a standard, flexible and league-independent language, which defines Setplays that are interpreted and executed at run-time, using inter-robot communication. A major step in the development of the Setplay framework is its usage and testing in the scope of the FCPortugal team, which participates in the RoboCup 2D-simulation league, where it won several titles. After this successful implementation, described in this paper, the framework will be used in the mid-size league, and possibly in other new environments. Recent developments have made it possible to use Setplays in play-on situations, which had not been possible before. Also, a graphical tool for Setplay definition has been developed, and used in the context of this team.