Dear Small Size League teams,
Reflecting on the success of RoboCup 2024 in Eindhoven, we are thrilled with how last season unfolded and are grateful for the dedication and ingenuity of all participating teams. As we prepare for RoboCup 2025 in Salvador, Brazil, we are excited to introduce the organizing, technical, and executive committee for the RoboCup Small Size League. The committee is composed of a dedicated team of individuals committed to making the next edition of RoboCup engaging and inspiring for all participants.
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Organizing Committee (OC)
*Name:* David Brand
*Team:* TIGERs Mannheim
*Committee member since:* 2022
*About:* I joined TIGERs Mannheim in 2019 as a computer science student and have been competing in the SSL since 2021. After my first in person RoboCup, I joined the OC, and my goal since then is to help organize each tournament in such a way that every competing team is able to reach their best result while still having a great time. When I'm not helping to prepare / host the next tournament, I'm a full-time IT systems expert in the area of aerodrome surveillance based in Frankfurt(DEU). If I have time on the side, I like to go climbing or transceive more knowledge primarily in the IT/ET domain.
*Name:* Carla Cosenza
*Team:* RoboIME
*Committee member since:* 2019
*About:* I joined RoboIME in 2016, during my first year of my undergraduate study in computer engineering. I enjoyed it so much that I worked on it during all my time at university and decided to join the OC in 2019. Since I finished my studies in 2020, I have been working for the league in my free time while I work as a full time software engineer in London. As hobbies, I would say I have too many to list here but the main ones right now are cooking, climbing, running, and photography.
*Name:* Emy Ganzeboom
*Team:* RoboTeam Twente
*Committee member since:* 2024
*About:* In 2022 I joined the SSL as full-time Team Manager of RoboTeam Twente and even though it was hectic at times, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I still try to be active in the team as an Advisory Board member and by dropping by unexpectedly. I played an important part in the local organisation of the RoboCup 2023 in Eindhoven and loved to continue my contribution to the league by joining the OC. I am a Biomedical Engineering student focusing on BioRobotics. In my free time I enjoy playing (bass)guitar, backpacking, visiting the zoo, scuba diving, and gaining more technical skills by doing Arduino projects and home renovations.
*Name:* Tobias Heineken
*Team:* ER-force
*Committee member since:* 2020
*About:* After joining ER-Force in late 2014 and participating with a 4 person team in a regional RoboCup in April 2015, I was fully on board to spend way too many hours on improving the tactics for the small robots we all love. In addition to the regular tasks and my computer science classes, I have always had a special interest in the other aspects in our league: How the qualification is set up, how to design a fair competition schedule that allows for, and values, on-venue improvements, and how to design the rules we play by. Since I often prefer to provide a stable environment and rely on the teams to refute a specific tactic, I had voiced comments about proposed changes even before joining the OC in 2020. Since joining the OC, I have finished my masters in 2022, and I am pursuing a PhD in software engineering right now. I’ve stopped working on our robots and spend that piece of time on preparing, organizing and running the yearly competitions - so do reach out, especially if you have questions for the qualification and review process! If I’m not busy working on my PhD or preparing the next RoboCup, I am probably exploring somewhere off the beaten path, or visiting friends - many of whom I met at the RoboCup!
Technical Committee (TC)
*Name:* Lucas Cavalcanti
*Team:* RobôCIn
*Committee member since:* 2022
*About:* I have been participating in RoboCup competitions since 2011. In 2015, while competing in the @Home league, I discovered the Small Size League (SSL). Inspired by its challenges, I co-founded RobôCIn that same year with a friend to build autonomous soccer-playing robots. In 2019, we made our SSL debut at RoboCup Australia. My passion for the league grew, and in 2022, I joined its organizing team as a Technical Committee (TC) member. After earning a BSc in Computer Engineering and an MSc in Computer Science, I began working at Microsoft while keeping RoboCup as a hobby. Outside of robotics, I enjoy running in my free time.
*Name:* Emiel Steerneman
*Team:* RoboTeam Twente
*Committee member since:* 2024
*About:* I’m Emiel Steerneman, 31 years old, and I’ve been participating in the Small Size League since 2017. In that year, after finishing my BSc Computer Science, I joined RoboTeam Twente as a software developer and member of the board. After my RoboTeam Twente year I started my MSc Data Science. Even though I finished my masters and am now a “Burger”, I’m still active as a member of RoboTeam Twente. Last year, I was also LOC at the RoboCup Eindhoven. In my free time, I like flying FPV drones, playing the drums, programming, and lifting heavy stuff. I’m pretty proud of my contribution to the SSL, https://tdpsearch.com/, and I hope that as a TC member, I can keep on contributing even more.
*Name:* Will Stuckley
*Team: *A-Team
*Committee member since:* July 2024
*About:* I’ve been participating in the SSL since August of 2014. I am a founding and current member of The A-Team, a community team based in the United States. Before that, I was a member of RoboJackets during my undergraduate and master studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology until 2020. I currently still work for Georgia Tech in the area of high-assurance microelectronics and EDA tooling with an emphasis on their role in the formal assessment and formal behavioral proofs of cyber-physical systems. I have taught courses on embedded systems, utility grid security, microelectronics EDA tools, and microelectronics security. In my spare time, I enjoy outdoor activities such as backpacking, rock climbing, technical diving, and skiing.
Executive Committee (EC)
*Name:* Masahide ItoTeam: RoboDragons
*Team: *RoboDragons
*Committee member since:* July 2016
About: As a member of RoboDragons, I have been participating in RoboCup since 2014. When I was a bachelor student of Aichi Prefectural University (in Aichi, Japan), RoboDragons have been already built up but there was no chance to join because I was interested in the other things. As diving into academia, I first have worked as a research assistant and then an assistant professor at Seikei University (in Tokyo, Japan) for six years. After that, I obtained an opportunity to get back to Aichi Prefectural University as an assistant professor. At the moment, Prof. Tadashi Naruse asked me join RoboDragons. That was a trap to connect into the Small Size League (SSL) of RoboCup;) Currently, I am an associate professor and manage my own laboratory with respect to controlling/estimating dynamical systems such as nonholonomic/underactuated robots, SSL (omnidirectional/holonomic) robots, and a sunlight-type plant factory. From 2016 to 2018, I have improved the description of the rules as a TC member; from 2018 to current, I have been an EC member to bridge between the league and Trustees. My recent hobby is to play volleyball---restarted for the first time in 24 years💪
*Name:* Nicolai Ommer *Team: *TIGERs Mannheim
*Committee member since:* 2017
*About: *I joined the TIGERs Mannheim in 2011 as a computer science student and worked on the team's main AI software. My first RoboCup was in 2012 in Mexico City. I have been to every RoboCup since then. In 2018 I joined the technical committee and contributed several of the league's official tools in the following years, like the ssl-game-controller, ssl-status-board and ssl-remote-control. Since 2024, I’m member of the executive committee. After I finished my Master's in 2016, RoboCup has become a hobby for me, next to a full time job as a software engineer in Munich. I also like mountain-based sports like biking, snowboarding and climbing.
*Name:* Leonardo da Silva Costa
*Team:* RoboFEI
*Committee member since:* 2020
*About:* At the very beginning of my graduation in Control and Automation Engineering at FEI I joined the RoboFEI team (2017) and fell in love with the Small Size League. Since then I have mostly worked on the team’s strategy software, although as time went by I ended up playing a major role in the electronics team by helping in the development of the new main board for our robots. In 2019 I was elected as a member of the Technical Committee and have been helping the league since then. I have a MSc on Artificial Intelligence applied to robotics and I’m currently doing a PhD in Socially Aware Robotics Navigation and working as a Robotics Engineer.
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Our mission as part of the committee is to support teams, facilitate innovation, and ensure that the Small Size League remains fair, challenging, and enjoyable for everyone involved. Throughout the year, we will be sharing updates on competition formats, rule adjustments, important deadlines, and other essential details to help you and your team prepare for RoboCup 2025.
Our main means of communication is the Small Size League mailing list. The mailing list is the place to be for SSL-related announcements. We require that at least one person from every team is subscribed to this mailing list in order to receive important announcements. You can subscribe to the mailing list HERE https://lists.robocup.org/mm/lists/robocup-small.lists.robocup.org/.
Next to the mailing list, we have a Discord Server. Most team members are part of this server. This is where you can easily ask other teams for advice or help. Additionally, important league announcements are also posted on this server. You can join the server HERE https://discord.com/invite/t724m8c.
Please feel free to reach out to us via email or Discord if you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns regarding the Small Size League or its organization. We look forward to collaborating with each of you and seeing the creativity and teamwork that makes RoboCup such a remarkable event!
Thank you for being a part of the RoboCup Small Size League, and here’s to an exciting journey to Salvador and a fantastic season ahead!
Kind regards,
The RoboCup Small Size League