1. FIRA North America (NA) Regional Championship

In spite of the best efforts from Professor Shahram Payandeh and
Mr. Chao Cheng, SFU, the NA Regional Championship has to be called
off due to lack of financial support. However there are teams from
NA which have expressed their desire to participate in the FIRA
Brazil'99. As such, these teams should not be deprived of the
opportunity to compete. The team Newton Lab, the World Champion
in 1996 and 1997, will be invited to participate. Teams from NA
who desire to participate in the FIRA Brazil'99 are requested to
register their teams. Please forward the following team details
to by May 15th.

Team Name :
Human Members :
Affiliation :
Contact Phone No.:
Fax No. :
Email address :
Category : Mirosot/Narosot/Robosot/S-KheperaSot

Selection Procedure will be announced in due course after the
registrations have been received.


2. Chinese FIRA Robot Soccer Association

The Chinese FIRA Robot Soccer Association was formally established
on April 6th in Beijing. It is under the Chinese Intelligent Robot
Association of which the President is Professor Chai Zi Xing,
Zhongnan Institute of Technology, Changsha. Professor Hong Bingrong,
Harbin Institute of Technology, was elected as the President of the
Chinese FIRA Robot Soccer Association. Professor Chai Zi Xing and
Professor Jong-Hwan Kim were appointed as the Honorary Presidents of
the Chinese FIRA Robot Soccer Association.


3. MiroSot Demonstration Games in Vienna, Austria

From April 20th till 24th, MiroSot demonstration games were held
during an electronic fair in Vienna. A demonstration game was also
held in Siemens. Professor Peter Kopacek and Dr. Man-Wook Han
reported that the demonstrations were quite successful.

They also held two demonstrations in Technical University of Vienna,
one on March 4th and another between March 11th - 14th.


4. IROC: Internet Education Program

Though the IROC homepage in English version is still under
construction, the Korean version of the Internet education material
on Micro-robot soccer system is now available at . Its
English version will be available from May 3rd. Professor Gourab Sen
Gupta is helping in the translation.

Those who wish to participate in the "Robot Olympiad" and more
information, please contact . The Robot Olympiad,
organized by IROC and sponsored by LEGO Dacta and LEGO Korea, will
be hosted by KAIST from August 18 to 21, 1999. LEGO Dacta and LEGO
Korea are sponsoring the primary and middle school students'
activities.


5. Bidding for Hosting FIRA 2001

Those who wish to bid for hosting the FIRA Robot World Cup 2001, are
requested to submit the detailed proposal by May 31, 1999. The
proposal form is available by sending a request to .
Currently China, Spain, Switzerland and U.K. have expressed their
intentions to host the same.

The detailed proposals will be discussed by the FIRA Executive
Commitee and the final selection will be done at the FIRA Assembly
Meeting in Campinas during the FIRA Brazil'99.


6. Visitor to FIRA Headquarters

Prof. Chris Messom of Dubai Polytechnic, United Arab Emirates, will
visit the FIRA Headquarters in the first week of May 1999. He will be
at the Intelligent Control Laboratory (Prof. Jong-Hwan Kim), KAIST,
to develop the robot soccer system. He will be attached to ICL for
a period of one week.


---------------------------------------------------------------------
THE FEDERATION OF INTERNATIONAL ROBOT-SOCCER ASSOCIATION
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Editor-in-Chief: Jong-Hwan Kim

Associate Editors:
Chao Cheng Holger Haas Jeffrey Johnson
Krzysztof R. Kozlowski Amitabha Mukerjee Luca Odetti
Victor Romano Castillo Toledo Andon Topalov
Prahlad Vadakkepat Jing Wang Gourab Sen Gupta

Editorial Staffs: Jin-Ah Lee Hye-Young Park

Dept. of Electrical Engineering, KAIST,
373-1 Kusong-dong, Yusong-gu,
Taejon 305-701, Korea.
Tel: 42-869-3448
Fax: 42-869-8010
E-mail: fira@fira.net
http://www.fira.net/
=====================================================

[April 29, 1999]

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