Eighth World Title for Eindhoven's Soccer Robots!
On the final day of RoboCup 2024 in Eindhoven, the Middle Size League team of Tech United once again secured the world title at this global championship for autonomous robots. This marks the eighth world title for the soccer robots since their foundation. A fantastic achievement by the multidisciplinary team of (former) students, PhD candidates, and staff from Eindhoven University of Technology.
In an exciting final, the soccer robots, known as “TURTLE” (Tech United RoboCup Team: Limited Edition), defeated the BigHeroX team from China with a convincing 6-1 victory. By halftime, Tech United already held a 3-0 lead. BigHeroX received three yellow cards during the match—for collisions and pushing. Both teams defended strongly, but Tech United dominated the match thanks to their agility, ball handling, and great reception skills. Throughout this tournament, the team worked hard on the hardware and software of the robots to improve these techniques. And with success!
In addition to the soccer robots, Tech United secured fourth place with their care robot HERO in the @Home competition, where robots are developed to help elderly people live independently at home for longer. The use of a care robot can significantly ease the workload in the healthcare sector.
RoboCup encourages the development of reliable and affordable autonomous robots that benefit society. One of RoboCup's key goals is to have soccer robots so advanced by 2050 that they can defeat the human world champion. Tech United is working hard towards this ambitious challenge!
With pride, we look back on a wonderful (home) tournament and look forward to next year when RoboCup will be held in Brazil. As the defending champion, Tech United will once again compete for the title.
See you next year!