RoboCup Logistics League: an interview with Alexander Ferrein, Till Hofmann and Wataru Uemura

The Industrial Organization field at RoboCup2025.

RoboCup is a worldwide clinical campaign with the objective of progressing the modern of smart robotics, AI and automation. The annual RoboCup event happened from 15-21 July in Salvador, Brazil. The Logistics League develops component of the Industrial League and is an application-driven organization influenced by the commercial circumstance of a wise manufacturing facility. Ahead of the Brazil conference, we talked with 3 vital participants of the organization to figure out extra. Alexander Ferrein is a RoboCup Trustee supervising the Industrial Organization, and Till Hofmann and Wataru Uemura are Logistics Organization Exec Board participants.

Could you begin by offering us an intro to the Logistics Organization?

Alexander Ferrein: The concept of the Logistics Organization is to have robotics aiding in intra-production logistics. The having fun area is established with various equipments and the robotics require to bring basic materials and items to the equipments and select items up from them. There are orders coming in for various items of various intricacies. The concept is that the robotics supply these items after they have actually been machined, at a particular handover factor, and afterwards the group will certainly be granted factors. The arrangement is that we have 6 equipments per group, and 3 robotics running in the wise manufacturing facility.

There are 2 groups contending at the very same time on various sides of the area. The majority of the equipments get on the home side of the area, however some equipments are likewise on the challenger’s side of the area. The groups require to reveal fundamental robotics abilities like navigating abilities and crash evasion. For the manufacturing of items we have little discs that have various colours and can be piled on top of each various other, and they have various caps. We have around 550 various things that can be generated. We do not concentrate a lot on the handling of the components, consequently the controling devices are rather basic and are generally customized constructed by the groups. They simply require to get hold of these discs and drive them around and place them on conveyor belts on the equipments.

The major emphasis gets on the manufacturing logistics and the preparation stage. The facility items require to be generated or machined by a group of robotics– without this preparation and group job it would not be feasible to supply the items within the designated time in the competitors.

Previously, we had actually been sustained by Festo didactics, that provided the equipments. Nevertheless, they took out in February and informed us that they will not sustain us in bringing the equipments to Brazil. Our group in Aachen has a total area established, so we remain in the (not so very easy) procedure of loading the equipments up in pallets and delivering them to Brazil.

Till Hofmann: One essential information is that all the items that require to be made, the orders for those come online, and the variety of feasible items is extremely high. For that reason, you can not do any kind of preparation ahead of time– you can not simply develop a huge data source which contains one series that you perform for each feasible item, that does not actually function. So the robotics require to do on-line preparation. Because of the reality that we have several robotics in the group and afterwards likewise the challengers groups’ robotics on the area, numerous points go in different ways than prepared, so a large element of the competitors is implementation tracking and online replanning. Essentially you develop a preliminary strategy, however you require to continuously adjust that strategy to what really takes place throughout implementation. I simply intend to stress and anxiety that unlike various other RoboCup competitors, it’s actually a long-horizon preparation job in the feeling that we generally require to do activities on a time perspective of 5 to 10 mins to really reach an intermediate objective of creating among those items.

Wataru Uemura: The emphasis of our organization gets on just how to deal with the assembly line. The 3 mobile robotics are a really vital part. Initially these were self-governing led robotics, and now they are totally self-governing mobile robotics. The robotics require to select their course to make the item.

Could you speak about a few of the difficulties the groups deal with in the organization, and exists a difficulty or element of the competitors that the groups have discovered especially hard?

Alexander: Firstly, one requires to state that it is an actually difficult trouble that we are dealing with right here. So the groups that are beginning brand-new, they need to take care of every one of the robot elements, so mobile robotics, self-governing knowledge systems, they require to drive about, map, engage with the equipments. As these things that we are intimidating are non-standard points, they likewise require to construct their very own controling tools. And after that there is this enormous preparation element of the organization, which is likewise not so very easy. When we began this in 2011, 2012, we were believing that this have to be a fixed trouble, that a person can utilize organizing systems, that manufacturing is electronic, which every little thing would certainly be very easy. Nevertheless, we figured out it’s not really very easy, and there are no off-the-shelf remedies for a fleet of robotics doing preparation and manufacturing.

Considering our group (which has actually ended up being especially effective for many years) and from observing the various other groups as a trustee, I believe that the combination element of all the various jobs is actually a tough point. Having a software program system that can a lot of points, interacting with the central umpire box, and making it run within the moment limitation of a suit, is the significant obstacle. Today, navigating of a robotic is not the huge problem, essentially, however obtaining it incorporated right into your software program system and constructing all the remainder around the preparation parts and more, this is, from my perspective, the significant obstacle.

Till: As I discussed, I believe the mix of long-horizon preparation and implementation tracking is especially hard. We do have a great deal of failings throughout one manufacturing run, due to equipment constraints and issues with the robotics. Often the equipments themselves stop working and they require to take care of this, without having the ability to fix the trouble itself, since it’s not in their control. So they require to do a great deal of thinking that takes into consideration all the various situations that might occur. As an example, instantly you have an item showing up in a maker and you no more recognize the setup since this info was shed en route. Just how do you take care of this? One more instance is that the robotic goes down an item while it is driving about and afterwards attempts to feed it right into the device. After that the device reports a failing and the group requires to maintain its globe design current to recognize that this item is no more where they believed it was. Just how do we take care of this?

Will there be any kind of brand-new difficulties presented for RoboCup 2025?

Alexander: Since the trouble we are attempting to fix is so hard, we do not have numerous groups in the organization. We had a brand-new group at RoboCup2023, in Bordeaux, and they are currently continually concerning the RoboCups, which behaves. Besides this, we have a core of 3 to 5 groups that join the organization. As the obstacle itself is tough to enter into, the abilities just establish gradually, so brand-new difficulties are not actually presented. There are minor modifications occasionally. Among the significant modifications over the last few years was throughout Coronavirus times where we needed to desert the entire suit element since we could not have fun with 2 groups at the very same time. We presented elements of the video game as difficulties. Currently we have a difficulty track too, where groups can simply concentrate on specific elements of the organization and do not require to play the complete video game.

The abilities of the groups are not creating as though we actually require to include brand-new difficulties since it is still unresolved and tough for all the groups to obtain the robotics running, since we have a lot of various elements.

I recognize that you are considering some modifications to the organization. Could you state extra concerning this?

Alexander: Yes, we have some concepts for a brand-new Industrial Organization. As Festo are taking out we do not see the requirement to stick to this specific device kind. We had a workshop previously this year with all the groups and arranging boards and we’re recommending a future obstacle, or organization. We will certainly review this at RoboCup2025.

Till: We really currently had conversations with @work, and concurred that the long-lasting objective is to combine both competitors right into one huge Industrial Organization. Following year, we will certainly begin assembling by doing some sort of cooperation obstacle or crossover obstacle where groups from @work will certainly team up with what’s currently the Logistics Organization, however will certainly be the Smart Production Organization already. After that with any luck, in 2 or 3 years, this will certainly be one major league as opposed to different commercial competitors. And the concept of the organization that we’re presently intending to move to is actually a more comprehensive wise production circumstance where we have various elements of wise production. So presently it’s actually just the manufacturing logistics component. Yet in the future, we likewise intend to consist of the setting up itself as component of the competitors and likewise expand this to humanoid robotics and likewise concentrate on human-robot cooperation in this production setup.

So this will certainly be extremely various to the Logistics Organization as it is right currently. Just how we will certainly do the movement from what we need to that brand-new organization without shedding all the groups is something that’s still planned.

Alexander: I likewise do not believe we should not limit ourselves to simply one kind of robotic. As we see, there is something happening with regard to humanoid robotics, and the Rescue Organization is recommending a quadruped robotic. In the @Home Organization there are concepts to present the stairs where you require extra dexterity in these setups. So for me, I would not limit the kind of robotics that we’re utilizing. We are simply considering recommending difficulties that are looking in the direction of the future. Until now we have actually been doing points that we believed may be appropriate to sector, however sector is not extremely thinking about what we are doing right here. At the very least, they are not knocking at our doors and asking what our remedies are. That’s likewise an additional element that we will perhaps talk about at Robocup 2025– just how we can boost our effect as an organization for the outdoors.

To make sure that is among the goals, I presume, to progress in a manner such that sector will be extra interested?

Alexander: Yes, matter, appropriate? I imply, you see a lot taking place, specifically in China with the robotic production OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] that construct these robotics in a couple of years that have rather outstanding capacities. And well, we stand apart and simply watch. So perhaps we must utilize those robotics, and incorporate them right into our procedure. It’s extremely essential that we are opening our minds to picture a future that’s various from today.

Concerning the interviewees

	Alexander Ferrein obtained his MSc in Computer Technology (Dipl.-Inform.) and his PhD (Dr. rer. nat) from Aachen College in 2001 and 2007, specifically. In between 2009-2011 he signed up with the Robotics and Brokers Study Laboratory, College of Cape Community, as a postdoctoral study other with Feodor-Lynen scholarship approved by the Alexander-von-Humboldt Structure. He after that re-joined the Knowledge-Based Equipment Team at Aachen College prior to he ended up being a teacher for Robotics and Computer Technology at FH Aachen College of Applied Sciences. He is a heading the Mobile Autonomous Equipment & Cognitive Robotics Institute at Aachen Applied Scientific Research College. His study focusses on the area of Expert system and Cognitive Robotics. Considering that 2015 he is participant of the Advisory Board of the African-German Network of Quality in Scientific research whose Vice-president he was in between 2019-2023. His study focuses on the area of cognitive robotics. Specifically, he has an interest in top-level control and choice production of robotics and representatives acting under real-time restraints.
	Till Hofmann is a Postdoc at RWTH Aachen College. His study concentrates on preparation, strategy implementation, generalised preparation in addition to responsive synthesis, with a specific concentrate on preparation for robotics. He participated in the RoboCup Logistics Organization from 2016 up until 2019 and participant of the technological board from 2017 up until 2020. Considering that 2024, he gets on the exec board of the RCLL.
	Wataru Uemura was birthed in 1977, and obtained B.E, M.E. and D.E. levels from Osaka City College, in 2000, 2002, and 2005. He is an associate teacher in Electronic devices, Details and Interaction Design Program, Professors of Advanced Scientific Research and Modern Technology, Ryukoku College in Shiga, Japan. He belongs to IEEE, RoboCup and others. He is a chairperson of the RoboCup Japanese National Board. He is an executive board participant of RoboCup Logistics Organization. He belonged to the Industrial Robotics Competitors Board, the Globe Robotic Top. He was TPC Vice Chairs of GCCE 2012, Seminar Chair of GCCE 2016, and Magazine Chairs of GCCE (International Seminar on Customer Electronic Devices). He belongs to the Globe Abilities in Japan arranging board of Autonomous Mobile Robots.