Northern Bites Take Second in RoboCup World Championship

Story posted July 05, 2009

The Northern Bites' impressive 7-0 winning streak came to an end Sunday when they came up against German team B-Human in the final game of the 2009 RoboCup World Championship games in Graz, Austria.

The Northern Bites played a nearly flawless first half against B-Human, the favorite to win the match who had scored at least seven points in every game leading up to the tournament's showdown.

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The Northern Bites (L. to r.) Tucker Hermans '09, Andrew Lawrence '10, Elise Krob '10, Jack Morrison '11, team advisor Eric Chown, Joho Strom '09.

The final score was 5-0, leaving B-Human the world champions, Bowdoin in second place, Germany's Nao Devils Dortmund in third.

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Aldebaran, French manufacturer of the Nao, stages half-time shows demonstrating the robot's capabilities, which have included tai chi routines and scenes from plays. This year programmers added a new dance routine to the Nao's repertoire — a tribute to Michael Jackson. Pictured, a shot of the robot mid-"Billie Jean."

In-depth descriptions of the games and other commentary can be found in the Northern Bites Blog.

Official results here.

Discovery Channel Canada was on hand for Bowdoin's victorious semifinal game with the Nao Devils and affixed a microphone to Tucker Hermans '09 to capture the action from his perspective.

Discovery Channel Canada's shows are posted to its Web site.

Team advisor Eric Chown reports that the league has named him organizing committee chair for next year's competition to be held June 19-24, 2010, in Singapore.

Watch videos from the 2009 RoboCup World Championships here.

Tucker Hermans '09 and Chown appear at the end of this video:

Other stories from the 2009 RoboCup World Championship:


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