Similarly to the other RoboCup leagues, the Four-Legged League uses a qualification process. There are several reasons for the need of this qualification, in particular the continued interest in the league combined with the fact that we cannot increase the number of teams every year. As opposed to other leagues, the qualification procedure qualifies teams based on their performance at RoboCup in the previous year. The process is designed to allow for teams to show their technical contributions in terms of performance in the competition, challenges, and research publications.
Procedure
The total teams qualified, TAll is the union of three categories of teams:
TComp. Teams classified from the competition (winners from the championship tournament). They must have provided a detailed team report.
TChallenge. Teams classified from the RoboCup Technical Challenge (winners of the challenges). They must have provided a detailed team report.
TRec. Teams recommended by Committee (including new teams based on the applications)
So #TAll = #(TComp | TChallenge) + #TRec.
Number of Teams
In 2007, #TAll = 24 teams. The proposed distribution is:
#TComp = 8 (Quarter finalists)
#TChallenge = 4 (Best 4 teams of the Technical Challenge)
#TRec = #TAll - #(TComp | TChallenge)
Important Note: Contrary to the previous years, quarter finalists in the top 4 will NOT be excluded. Hence, #(TComp | TChallenge) might be less than 12)
The committee will take into account the years in the league, research publications, and scientific and engineering achievements (So, freshman teams should be fine).
Declination of Participation
In case a qualified team declines to participate in the next year RoboCup or did not provide a detailed team report, TRec will be increased.
