During the 12th Robot World Cup Games, organized by the Federation of International Robot-soccer Association (FIRA), which only recently came to a close, the Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) Robot-soccer Research Center premiered their first humanoid robot soccer system and won first place in its category.

Right now, this soccer event is the most popular and watched international robot championship. However, until now, the robots had lacked visual and entertainment appeal because their movements were supported by wheels and their bodies were shaped like cubes. After ten years of research, the HIT Robot-soccer Research Center, under the leadership of Professor Hong Bingrong has developed a "three on three" humanoid robot soccer system that overcomes this visual challenge. The system was introduced for the first time during the 2007 FIRA RoboGames. These humanoid robots contain complex motion program functions. Not only can they kick the ball, at will, using two legs, but they can also automatically recover from falls. When a robot topples over it has the ability to get up on its own and continue playing the game. It can also carry out other difficult movements such as spreading its two legs apart widely in order to steal the ball from other players.

By People's Daily Online