Dear RoboCuppers,
Over the past months, we have made significant progress in defining the scenarios for the Smart Manufacturing League (SML). Throughout this process, we have been striving to balance different objectives: on the one hand, creating challenges that advance the state of the art and address relevant research questions; on the other hand, ensuring that the scenarios remain accessible to new teams and do not create unnecessary barriers to participation.
In this context, we have also been discussing how entry-level scenarios could be designed to be suitable for newcomer teams, including teams of younger students. Our goal is to explore pathways that allow young talents to engage with topics in industrial and manufacturing automation at an early stage and, if they wish, to continue their journey within the RoboCup ecosystem.
We see considerable value in close collaboration across the RoboCup community. The Major Leagues can contribute their experience in defining technical and scientific challenges that drive innovation and research. The Junior Leagues, on the other hand, bring extensive expertise in working with young participants, designing age-appropriate educational experiences, and creating an engaging and sustainable competition environment. We believe that these perspectives complement each other and can provide valuable input for future developments.
The discussions of recent weeks have shown that there are different interpretations and expectations regarding the concept of so-called "bridge leagues" and related approaches such as “SML entry-level tasks". We consider this exchange of views both valuable and constructive, as it helps to highlight opportunities, concerns, and perspectives that should be taken into account as ideas continue to evolve.
We would like to emphasize that this remains an open process. No final decisions have been made, and the ideas discussed so far should be understood as a basis for further dialogue rather than as predetermined outcomes.
We therefore warmly invite all interested members of the RoboCup community to join us in Incheon. We would like to present the current status of our discussions, share emerging ideas, and engage in an open conversation about possible directions and opportunities for the future development of the league.
We look forward to the discussion and to shaping the future together with the community.
The meeting will take place on Friday, July 3, 2026 at 6 pm in room 118 right after the “Execs meets Trustees” meeting.
Best regards, Alexander
on behalf of Maike, Stefan, the SML Execs, the responsible league Trustees (apologies if I forgot to mention someone) -- Prof. Dr. Alexander Ferrein Mobile Autonomous Systems & Cognitive Robotics Institute Robotics and Foundations of Computer Science
FH Aachen - University of Applied Sciences Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology Eupener Strasse 70 | 52066 Aachen | Germany T: +49 241 6009 51904 | F: +49 241 6009 52190 E: f*****n@fh-aachen.de | W: www.ferrein.fh-aachen.de
Speaker Major Competitions of the RoboCup German Regional Committee W: www.robocup.de
Former Vice-Chair of the African-German Network of Excellence in Science A Network of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation W: www.agnes-h.org