Dear RoboCup Industrial Teams,

At the RoboCup German Open 2026, we will proceed with two types of sessions: The first are strategy workshops, in which we will get together and discuss how we can further develop our unified long-term vision as one league (RC@Work + RCLL). The second part will be a practical challenge in which teams with different backgrounds can bring their robots and test new potential industrial tasks for 2026 and beyond. We want this workshop to be as inclusive as possible and invite all teams from the former RCLL and RC@Work leagues as well as new research groups to join the RoboCup German Open. Open elements and unresolved aspects will be explicitly refined onsite together with all teams, based on hands-on experience during the workshops.

Many of you have been eager to hear how the Smart Manufacturing League (SML) will take shape for RoboCup 2026. Recent discussions within the previous RoboCup@Work and RoboCup Logistics communities have led to a strong shared understanding of the overall direction towards Industry 5.0 and beyond.

While we share substantial common ground in vision, tasks, and robot designs, our ideas on how these should be implemented into a concrete competition format have not fully converged so far.

To move forward constructively and gather practical experience as well as your feedback, we have decided to proceed with both a practical challenge that invites teams with diverse backgrounds and robot capabilities to bring existing platforms and practically test how the new tasks can take shape; and to also take the time in structured work sessions and discussions to further our joint understanding of a unified SML vision.

We will reserve a lot of time for discussion and work sessions, in which we get together as the new unified league and discuss how we can further shape and refine our league concepts for 2026 and beyond. To facilitate early input and collaboration, we have set up a shared public folder where interested individuals, teams, and working groups can exchange ideas. One initial proposal outlining a coherent vision and competition structure is already available there, and additional contributions will follow over time. We strongly encourage teams to participate in the workshop and share their viewpoints. Teams are explicitly encouraged to raise questions and suggest improvements transparently via GitHub issues even before the RoboCup German Open. Our shared goal is to converge towards a robust and community-driven SML concept for RoboCup 2026 in Korea, 2027, and beyond.

For the technical challenges, we will provide several scenarios, including: handling and assembly tasks using interlocking toy bricks to produce a variety of goods, and intra-production logistics challenges centered on the manipulation and transport of standardized Euro-Boxes to maintain material flow on the shop floor. Your robots do not need to be able to solve all tasks – you are welcome to bring any robot that was able to perform in the RCLL or RC@Work leagues and you will be able to participate in parts of the challenge. For one of the scenarios we would like to try during the RoboCup German Open, one that tests intra-production logistics, robots should be adapted to handle standard Euroboxes, a candidate skill likely to remain relevant beyond 2026. You can find more details about how the challenge setup will look like in https://nextcloud.robocup.de/s/gTwf5bTW2dzJNwB

We strongly encourage teams to participate in all workshop formats. Most existing systems should already be able to perform a substantial subset of the proposed tasks. And the RoboCup German Open will be the perfect time for your team to get all hands on deck and get your robot ready for more challenges in South Korea! We have also extended the deadline for teams to register to the RoboCup German Open – you still have time until February 6 at 23:59 CET.

We are looking forward to your participation, feedback, and contributions, and to shaping the next generation of RoboCup Industrial together.

Links

Shared folder for SML Vision & Concept papers: https://nextcloud.robocup.de/s/fMa7s7qMAAFTEEd

RC@Work GitHub repository: https://github.com/robocup-at-work/sml-embodied-autonomous-intelligence

RCLL GitHub repository: https://github.com/robocup-sml/workshop-paper

Best regards,

Asad, Marco, Matteo, Tarik & Maike