FC Portugal: RoboCup 2023 3D Simulation League Champions

Miguel Abreu, Pedro Mota, Luís Paulo Reis, Nuno Lau, Mário Florido

Abstract: FC Portugal, a team from the universities of Porto and Aveiro, achieved the second consecutive victory in the main competition of the 2023 RoboCup 3D Simulation League. The team registered 18 wins, 1 tie, and 3 losses, scoring a total of 109 goals while conceding only 13. The codebase used in this competition was developed in Python after RoboCup 2021. This paper presents a brief overview of its structure along with the new features developed for this year’s competition. The key developments include a revised dribble technique, designed to keep the ball further from the robot to prevent ball-holding fouls in compliance with new rules, and the introduction of a new programming language called TSAL. TSAL enables the creation of high-level team strategies in robotic soccer, combining deep symbolic reinforcement learning with human sub-optimal knowledge to optimize team tactics.