NUbots have competed in RoboCup every year since 2002. From 2020 to 2025, the team navigated the challenges of a global pandemic, transition to virtual competitions, and a triumphant return to in-person international events, consistently pushing the boundaries of humanoid robotics.
2025: Salvador, Brazil
RoboCup went back to Brazil, this time in the city of Salvador. NUbots achieved third place in the Humanoid League Kid Size tournament with five wins and fourteen goals.
Major hardware changes
- Subcontroller changed from OpenCR to NUSense
- Vertical NUC torso mounting
- Updated bumper design
- New TPU neck mounts
Major software changes
- YOLOv8 model switched to YOLOv11
- Major performance issue fixed by optimising vision clustering algorithm
- Yaw odometry filter
- Hungarian algorithm for field line intersection association
- Automatic localisation optimisation tool both with Webots (simulation) and MoCap (real robot)
- Localisation of other robots from vision detections and team mates from WiFi communication messages
- New attack, defend and support field player logic and switching based on robot communication with new/updated strategy functions
- Ready positioning based on robot communication and advanced penalty state handling
- Path planning with smoother transitions and obstacle avoidance
- NUsight: multi-robot support, kinematics view, updated localisation view and Director view
- Integration of torso pitch controller
- Docker container library updates, including major NUClear update with thread tracing
Performance and Results
The team came first in their round robin group.
| Rank | Team | Points | Played | Won | Drew | Lost | Goals Scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NUbots | 9 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 2 | RoboFEI | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | PUMAS | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | PMec Humanoid | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
In the quarter-finals, NUbots faced ITAndroids and won 2-0. NUbots won the third place game against ZJUDancer 1-0, securing the third place trophy.
2024: Eindhoven, The Netherlands
NUbots finished the competition in 4th place out of 16 teams.
Major hardware changes
- Upgraded ankles and hip pitch and roll to X-Series servos.
- Moved button panel to fixed back panel
- New power solution
- New neck mounts
Major software changes
- YOLO implementation and training of own model
- Improved odometry with anchor point method
- Switched field localisation from a particle filter to a non-linear optimiser
- Localisation of other robots on the field
- Robot-to-robot communication
- Dynamic position decider for defender/striker
- New path planning for positioning to ball, avoiding robots, facing goal
Performance and Results
NUbots placed third in the round robin and progressed to win their round of 16 and quarter-final matches before finishing 4th overall.
| Rank | Team | Points | Played | Won | Drew | Lost | Goals Scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ichiro ITS | 9 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 2 | Hamburg Bit-Bots | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | NUbots | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 4 | IT Androids | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
2023: Bordeaux, France
The team made major progress, scoring a winning goal in a normal game scenario for the first time in seven years.
Major hardware changes
- OpenCR subcontroller implementation
- Upgraded to NUC12WHSi7
- Offset added to upper leg for better range of motion
- Knee servos upgraded to X-Series servos
Major software changes
- Completely new localisation system using field lines
- Converted to the Director, a tree-style behaviour system
- Simplified walk engine based on the Bit-Bots Quintic walk engine
- New kick engine
Performance and Results
NUbots placed second in their first round robin group.
| Rank | Team | Points | Played | Won | Drew | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rhoban FC | 9 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | NUbots | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Bold Hearts | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 4 | UTRA | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
2022: Bangkok, Thailand
The first in-person RoboCup in three years. NUbots made it to the quarter-finals.
Major hardware changes
- Robots upgraded from 3D printed legs to aluminium legs
- New padding and colours
Major software changes
- First time using the Quintic Walk engine in-person
- New walk path planner
- Get up fixes for the real robot
Performance and Results
The team placed second in their round robin group and won their intermediate game in a penalty shootout to reach the quarter-finals.
2021: Online
Held virtually using the Webots simulator due to the pandemic. NUbots reached the quarter-finals.
Major software changes
- Support for Webots simulator
- Implementation of the Quintic Walk from team Bit-Bots
- Visual Mesh v2
- New particle filter for localisation
2020: Bordeaux, France (Cancelled)
The 2020 competition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.