Dear RoboCuppers,
RoboCup has been a uniquely enduring and inspiring force in robotics and AI since its inception. For almost three decades, it has grown through the self-motivation, passion, and remarkable dedication of you, its participants. This spirit has made RoboCup the world’s largest and most influential robotics competition.
Today, we stand at a pivotal moment. The field of robotics and AI is advancing at an unprecedented pace. The emergence of a new generation of robots, AI methods, and technologies is a unique historical opportunity. RoboCup takes this opportunity to continue to lead.
Therefore, we enact changes to the RoboCup international competitions, which is our window to the world. We unite all the advancements from all soccer leagues into one united umbrella focused on humanoid robot soccer. We push the state of the art in robotics and AI by introducing humanoid robots for general-purpose applications, including the @home, work, and rescue leagues.
Let’s write the next chapter of RoboCup together!
On behalf of The RoboCup Board of Trustees,
Ubbo Visser (President of The RoboCup Federation)
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Link to news on robocup.org https://robocup.org/news/181
Details of Changes for the International RoboCup competition Note: Existing leagues can continue at super-regionals, opens, and community-driven events.
1. Standard Platform League and Humanoid KidSize League The SPL and Humanoid League KidSize divisions begin an immediate merger process aiming to form a unified league by 2026 (name to be decided). Teams from across all soccer leagues will be invited to join and shape this process.
2. Small Size League, Middle Size League, and Soccer Simulation Leagues 2027 will be the final year of the international competition for the SSL, MSL, and the soccer simulation leagues, as long as we have sufficient participation. We look forward to transitioning all the scientific advancements from these leagues to humanoid robot soccer. We welcome proposals from the community to re-imagine how these leagues may contribute as a bridge to encourage participants from the Junior leagues to continue on with the Major leagues.
3. RoboCupRescue Simulation League The 2025 competition is the final year for RoboCupRescue Simulation as an independent league at the International event. Teams are encouraged to engage with the Rescue Robot League to explore merger concepts and combined evaluation frameworks.
4. RoboCup@Home A single, unified RoboCup@Home league takes effect immediately. The 2025 competition is the last to feature two separate sub-leagues.
5. RoboCupIndustrial The @Work and Logistics sub-leagues will create a new Smart Manufacturing League (SML), merging for the 2026 and 2027 competitions to better address emerging autonomous production and logistics challenges.