Robotics team wins the RoboCup German Open robotics championship in Kassel

The robotics team at Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences has won one more title: at the German robotics championship, the RoboCup German Open, the students of the "b-it bots" team took first place in the "@work" league of working robots. In this league, the robots had to autonomously solve tasks from the industrial sector in several rounds. With this German championship title in hand, the students from Sankt Augustin are travelling to the World Championships in Eindhoven in the Netherlands in July.

Robot enthusiasts from all over the world gathered at the exhibition grounds in Kassel from 17 to 21 April 2024 to let their robots compete in various categories at the RoboCup German Open. Teams from universities, colleges and companies competed for places with their robot systems in 13 leagues in four categories. The aim of the RoboCup is to promote science and technology for robotics and artificial intelligence through challenging competitions.

A very close race was expected in the @work league, as the students from H-BRS in Sankt Augustin were up against very strong competition from other German universities. However, the H-BRS b-it-bots team also has an impressive record. Last year, it won the title in the @work league at the RoboCup World Championships in Bordeaux. In this competition, the challenge is to master a series of tasks that can occur in industrial production. The robots have to navigate a course fully autonomously and recognise, grasp and transport objects.

In Kassel, the H-BRS students finally prevailed in an exciting final and won the title in Sankt Augustin on points.

"After our victory at the RoboCup World Championship last year, we knew that this competition would be no walk in the park. However, the team's perseverance and the extra effort we put in proved to be decisive," says Master's student and team member Vivek Mannava. "We are proud to have made it and secured another prestigious title at the German Open!"

"Winning the RoboCup German Open once again confirms both the incredible commitment and the above-average level of performance of everyone involved in the b-it bots team. I congratulate the entire team from the bottom of my heart," says Professor Sascha Alda, Dean of the Department of Computer Science.

With their tried-and-tested youBot robot from KUKA, the university team will be travelling to the World Championships in Eindhoven in July to defend last year's title. More than 3000 students from 45 countries will take part in the world's largest robotics competition.

Artificial intelligence and autonomous systems have been a research focus at Bonn-Rhine-Sieg University of Applied Sciences for more than 20 years. The Master's degree programme in Autonomous Systems, whose students make up the b-it-bots team, was the first of its kind in Germany. Last year, H-BRS also founded the A2S Institute to bring together and expand research in the fields of artificial intelligence and autonomous systems.