European Robotics League @H-BRS

Last week the department of computer science hosted the first @Work competition of the newly established Euopean Robotics League (ERL). Our very own b-it bots competed with AutonOHM from Technical University Nürnberg Georg Simon Ohm.

The robots' task was to navigate through the custom-built arena, locate, grasp and transport items and deposit them at specified locations. Both teams did well concerning navigation and orientation in the arena. However, in the areas of object recognition, grasping and feedback to the system, whether the object has actually been picked up, there is still room for improvement.

After five days of competition, the b-it bots came in first: Their robot managed to grasp and deposit two out of five objects during their best runs, whereas the Nuremberg team only picked up one item. Both teams were satisfied with the new competition because it leaves more time for testing and corrections as well as allowing for an extensive change of ideas between teams.