A good two months before this year’s RoboCup World Championship in Bordeaux, the RoboCup German Open 2023 is taking place this week. As in the previous year, the tournament will be held at different locations and at different times.
Already on Monday in the German Rescue Robotics Center (DRZ) in Dortmund Rescue League competition began. Here, the teams and their robots first have to prove themselves on ten different test tracks, where they move through rough terrain and, among other things, have to open doors, recognize objects and handle objects. Finally, as part of the “DRZ Challenge” in a simulated chemical accident, all of these different skills have to be combined in order to limit the damage.
On Thursday 180 junior teams then meet in Kassel, who have previously qualified for this German final at eight regional tournaments. A good placement in the final is now a prerequisite for being able to take part in the World Championships in Bordeaux.
Tests of robots for World Cup
For the teams of adult participants – who are not called senior teams in the RoboCup, but major teams – the German Open has no qualifying significance. Rather, the tournament is an important milestone for testing the robots under real competitive conditions and being able to prepare for the World Cup in a more targeted manner. At the Logistics League competition, which also starts on Thursday at RWTH Aachen University, is about planning and carrying out transport autonomously in a production environment for the robots. In addition to the challenges of navigation and the manipulation of objects, they must also be able to react to malfunctions and find alternative solutions. Due to space limitations, this competition is not open to spectators, but short visits are possible by arrangement with the organizing committee.
The Standard Platform League competition on the other hand, expressly wants viewers. This is still one of the most spectator-friendly competitions at the RoboCup: Under the title GORE (German Open Remote Event) will be played in Hamburg from Thursday Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL) of the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY) team of seven so-called Nao robots from the manufacturer Aldebaran Robotics against each other. If you can’t come to Hamburg-Bahrenfeld in person, you can also watch the games follow online in the live stream.
From 1st to 3rd June the RoboCup@Work League competition in Magdeburg, where various problems of mobile manipulation and navigation have to be solved in a commercial-industrial environment. Here, too, space on the Stimulate research campus of the Otto von Guericke University is limited, so that only a maximum of eight teams can take part. However, the finale will take place on Sunday as part of the “Long Night of Science”. Spectators should therefore have a good chance of being able to take a look at the competitions.
(olb)
