Fair play: Robots from Android FC created by the University of Edinburgh, are posed up for a photocall. Academics hope the team will reach the RoboCup finals
The ultimate aim of RoboCup is to create a team of robotic footballers by 2050 that can beat humans
The androids are able to move autonomously. They have been under development since last autumn
The Scottish football team may have missed out on playing in the World Cup this year, but their robotic counterparts are hoping to have better luck.
Step forward Android FC - a three-player squad created by academics at the University of Edinburgh.
The robots were put through their paces in front of the cameras today to kick off their campaign to reach the RoboCup finals in Istanbul.
The two-foot high striker, defender and goalkeeper are fully autonomous. They play the beautiful game using artificial intelligence and have sensors that detect other players and the ball.
The only human allowed on the pitch after the coin toss is the referee.
Edinburgh university's School of Infomatics hope their squad will eventually reach the humanoid finals in Turkey in 2011.
The international competition was founded in 1997. Last year it attracted 407 teams from 43 different countries.
The ultimate goal of the RoboCup project is to develop a team of humanoid robots by 2050 that can play and win against the human world champion football team.
Dr Sethu Vijayakumar who helped build the bots - said: 'RoboCup is a key challenge in robotics research.
'We first looked at the various animation techniques that have been used in the latest computer games and in films like Avatar.
'What we have to do to try to make a real robot do the same kind of things, so that it responds like a human being to sound and movement, and has a sense of balance, motion and sensitivity.'
The research team has been working on the project since autumn last year. They will show off the squad's silicon skills at the Edinburgh International Science Festival this weekend.
