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Humanoid Soccer Academy · Open

KooraCup Humanoid Soccer Academy

A practical, simulation-first course that takes you from "what is a soccer robot" to a full 3v3 match on the Booster K1, aligned with the Humanoid Soccer League 2026 rules.

Modules
10
Robot
Booster K1
League
Humanoid Soccer League 2026
Format
Mid division, Foundation, 3v3

Watch: what is KooraCup?

A 95-second introduction to KooraCup: humanoid robots that play soccer with no remote control, the Booster K1, the ten modules, and learning in simulation first.

Read the transcript

Every year, humanoid robots walk onto a soccer field and play. No remote control. No human driver. Each robot sees the ball, decides, and kicks, all on its own. This course teaches you how to build that mind.

Welcome to KooraCup, a hands-on course in humanoid robot soccer. You will work with the Booster K1, a robot about as tall as a five-year-old child, with twenty-two joints, a camera, and a small computer for a brain. By the end, you help it play a full three-versus-three match.

Ten modules take you there, step by step. First, you meet the machine and write your first Python program. Then you learn the rules, and the referee your code must obey. Next, the robot learns to see the field, to know where it stands, and to chase and kick the ball. Last, it learns to decide, to work as a team, and to hear the whistle.

You learn by doing. There are fifty-six lessons. Each has a short recap video and a quiz. Most have a hands-on lab, and many have simulators where you change the numbers and watch what happens. Every module ends with a project and an exam.

You start in simulation, because a simulator lets you try ten ideas in the time a real robot tries one. And the course shows you, honestly, where the simulator lies, so what works on screen still works on the field.

Everything is written in plain English, with every new word explained. You do not need a robot to begin. You need a laptop, a browser, and some curiosity. KooraCup: from what is a robot, to a robot that plays.

What you will learn

  1. 1

    Meet the Robot

    What a robot is, the different kinds, and everything inside the Booster K1: its joints, its senses, its brain, and how you talk to it.

  2. 2

    Your First Robot Program

    Set up Python, agree how your team of five will work together, and send your first command to a robot.

  3. 3

    Driving the Real K1

    Your first real commands: the Booster SDK and DDS, modes, walking and head commands, and a safe way to drive the robot by hand.

  4. 4

    The Game and the Referee

    A humanoid soccer robot is a loop with a deadline, wrapped in a rulebook, obeying a referee. Learn all three before you write robot code.

  5. 5

    Simulation First

    Build the real match software in a container, put six robots on a field in the simulator, and learn where the simulator lies to you.

  6. 6

    Seeing the Field

    How a picture becomes a place: camera numbers, ground geometry, and your own trained model measured honestly.

  7. 7

    Knowing Where You Are

    How the robot finds itself on the field, when it looks, and how it gets lost, kidnapped and flipped.

  8. 8

    Chasing and Kicking the Ball

    Ball skills as control laws with numbers: keeping the ball in sight, getting behind it, lining up and the kick, plus falling and getting up.

  9. 9

    Deciding What To Do

    How the robot decides: a behaviour tree, referee states, decisions that do not flicker, a defender of your own, and how to find out why a robot stands still.

  10. 10

    Playing as a Team, and the Match

    Teammates you can trust, a team message that obeys the 2026 rules, one robot to the ball, and a full 3v3 match you can explain afterwards.

How the course works

Lessons in short screens

Each lesson is a few focused screens, each with something to do, and a quick check at the end.

Labs with starter code

Download the lab bundle, run it on your own computer and submit your checkpoint.

Silent quizzes

You can retake a quiz as often as you like. Your instructor sees the results, so you can focus on learning.

An instructor console

Instructors see each learner and each question, so a lesson that confuses the whole class gets fixed.

Who it is for

Computer science students

The course is written for students who are new to robots. You do not need a robot to start.

Competition teams

Train a team of five for the Humanoid Soccer League with the same rules you will play under.

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