- Student
- 29/06/2026
Tech United robot soccer team in South Korea for RoboCup
With their legs packed in a separate suitcase, three humanoid soccer robots from Eindhoven arrived in South Korea yesterday. They traveled alongside the team's well-known cone-shaped soccer robots on wheels, all transported by Team Tech United. The matches begin on Thursday.
This week, eighteen members of TU/e team Tech United are in the South Korean port city of Incheon to compete in the RoboCup robot soccer tournament. For almost every team member, it is their first visit to South Korea. Although they had not seen much beyond the hotel by Monday, it is already proving to be an impressive experience, Biomedical Engineering student Jette Bruurs says by phone.
Together with two other team members, Bruurs organized the logistics and is responsible for the team's (social) media contacts. “The trip went smoothly,” they say. “We prepared everything well. This year we brought everything as personal luggage. In previous years, we shipped our equipment as cargo, but this is cheaper and much faster. It did mean a lot of hauling suitcases around for us, though,” she adds with a laugh.
Batteries
A humanoid soccer player does not fit into a suitcase, but just like the cone-shaped Mid-Size League (MSL) robots on wheels, the robots can be disassembled and divided among multiple pieces of luggage. As a result, the torso traveled in a different suitcase from the legs.
“You’re allowed to bring two of the batteries we use per person. We need 36 batteries in total. A suitcase may weigh no more than 32 kilograms—that’s because of occupational health regulations for baggage handlers at Schiphol Airport—and many of our suitcases weighed 31.9 kilograms.”
Bruurs has been involved in RoboCup, an annual event, since 2023. Her first edition took place in Bordeaux. The following year, Tech United claimed its eighth world title on home turf in Eindhoven. “Last year, RoboCup was held in Brazil, but without an MSL competition, so Tech United didn’t take part,” Bruurs says.
Expectations
Tuesday and Wednesday in Incheon are dedicated to preparations. The matches begin on Thursday. Once the humanoid robots have been assembled, Tech United is not expecting them to set the world on fire right away. This is the first RoboCup in which the team is competing in the humanoid league. At another tournament in Beijing last year, the team did not advance beyond the preliminary rounds.
“We’re not expecting to reach the final with the humanoid robots. It’s still all very new. Our focus is on well-executed team play—passing the ball and intercepting passes. That’s more difficult than simply dribbling the ball on your own, but ultimately that’s how it should be, because soccer is a team sport.” Bruurs considers the Chinese team Tsinghua to be the favorite.
Tech United rates the chances of its cone-shaped MSL robots on wheels much more highly. These self-built veterans, with playful names inspired by Dutch soccer heroes, such as Van Perslucht, Robodinho, and De Moer, have already proven themselves by winning eight world titles.
The focus in robot soccer is steadily shifting toward humanoid robots, however, because of their greater versatility. Starting in 2028, the RoboCup soccer tournament will be contested exclusively by humanoid teams.
This article was translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor.
Discussion