Germany and Japan have excellent robotics researchers and industrial robotics companies. To further foster collaboration, the TUM Venture Lab Robotics / AI and the UTokyoIPC are hosting a new ICRA competition focusing on entrepreneurship and the goal of translating excellent research into new industrial applications.
| Team Name | Country | Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| 100TemperedS | 🇯🇵 Japan | The University of Tokyo |
| ByteStackers | 🇩🇪 Germany | RWTH Aachen University |
| StackMasters | 🇺🇸 United States | University of Pennsylvania |
| UoZRobotics | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | University of Zimbabwe |
| OnMyOwn | 🇸🇬 Singapore | National University of Singapore |
| Evolonic | 🇩🇪 Germany | Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen, Fraunhofer IISB |
| INNOVATORS | 🇮🇳 India | PSG College of Technology, VIT Chennai |
| Award | Team Name | Country | Affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 100TemperedS | 🇯🇵 Japan | The University of Tokyo |
| 2nd | ByteStackers | 🇩🇪 Germany | RWTH Aachen University |
| 3rd | UoZRobotics | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | University of Zimbabwe |
- ICRA Registration Deadline 11th April
- Team members should complete their registration procedure by 11 April 2024, if they need to receive the Visa Invitation Letter.
- Visa Invitation Letter
- Team members must register for a full registration if they want to get the Visa Invitation letter. Registration for the "Exhibition and Competition" only is not enough to get the Visa Invitation Letter. Important: This is only for those team members who need the Visa, if you do not need a visa invitation letter, you can only register for the "Exhibition and Competition".
- Registration at ICRA 2024
- All the registration-related questions must be communicated to the ICRA team, via icra2024-registration@congre.co.jp
The first Q/A online meeting for the Bots and Bento competition happened on April 25 at 15:00 Germany Time.
If you missed it! you can watch the meeting recording offline here:
- LINK: Replay Now
The example robot bag file dataset has been updated and is now available to provide a clearer understanding of the challenge. (Please note that the KLT size currently showcased is the larger version, used solely for demonstration purposes. For the actual challenge, we will be using the official smaller version, which measures 30x40 cm).
- LINK: ROS 2 Bag
Within the Bots & Bento Challenge, competitors are tasked with designing and programming a robot that is able to locate, transport and sort standardized palettes containing the Japanese delicacy Bento. The rules are simple: given a pre-defined set of available hardware components, design your own robot and let it carry and sort palettes as high and as efficiently as possible.
- 🗓️ Duration: 4 days
- 📍 Place: Yokohama, Japan
- 🗒️ Registration Deadline: March 25, 2024 11:59 pm
- 🗒️ Start: May 13, 2024 12:00 am GMT+2
- 🔗 Apply: Here
- 📧 General Contact: arne.rost@tum-venture-labs.de
- 📧 Technical Contact: edwin@olive-robotics.com
Our goal is to drive innovation in autonomous material handling through a competition in which teams design and build robots using identical, pre-supplied robotics kits to perform pallet handling tasks within a specified area as part of our first challenge.
This first inaugural competition, co-organized by Olive Robotics, UTokyoIPC and TUM Venture Lab Robotics / AI, is a competitive platform for IEEE ICRA 2024, and is designed to foster innovation and practical skills among budding robotics professionals in the field of autonomous material handling. Within the Bots & Bento Challenge, competitors are tasked with designing and programming a robot that is able to locate, transport and stack standardized palettes containing the Japanese delicacy Bento. The rules are simple: given a pre-defined set of available hardware components, design your own robot and let it stack palettes as high and as efficiently as possible.
The Bots & Bento Challenge at IEEE ICRA 2024 will be held from May 13th to May 17th in Yokohama, Japan. Acting as the local partner in Japan, UTokyoIPC will be responsible for handling most of the on-site organizational tasks, whereas the Germany-based team takes care of supporting participants and shipping hardware and providing the simulation environment and later on be onsite to manage the competition itself. To ensure first-class support to all challenge participants, the number of teams allowed to participate is limited to six teams with up to six team members each.
TUM Venture Lab Robotics / AI and UTokyo IPC will both share the burden of supplying max 12 teams with robotics kits, which will be returned by the teams to the hosts after the competition.
🏆 All teams that meet the qualifications and participate will be awarded certificates of participation. The announcement of the final award prize for the top-performing teams will be made shortly.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Jan.4th | - Public call for challenge participation - Challenge info website online - Application process starts |
| Mar.17th | - Application deadline for competitors (Extended!). |
| Mar.25th | - Extended deadline for registeration |
| Mar.29th | - Notification to participating teams |
| April.11th | - Deadline for ICRA Registeration |
| May.12th | - Venue setup by challenge organizers |
| May.13th | - Welcoming challenge participants in Yokohama - Day one of robot assembly |
| May.14th | - Day two of robot assembly |
| May.15th | - Challenge Session 1 |
| May.16th | - Challenge Session 2 - Award Ceremony |
The safety considerations for this challenge are relatively straightforward: as the arena is walled with robust barriers on each side and the machines will move at relatively low speed (~1m/s at max), it is very unlikely for a robot to escape the arena. Within the arena safety hazards might be represented by the robot or stacks of pallets falling over. Thus to avoid harm to visitors and the contestants, no one is allowed to enter the arena while a competition run is under way.
TUM Venture Lab Robotics / AI and UTokyo IPC want to set up a permanent competition that will hopefully become part of ICRA. The goal is to strengthen future ICRAs in the EU by offering a similar second competition, and then to host a Japanese challenge. The idea came up during the exchange of ideas between the TUM Venture Lab Robotics / AI and UTokyo IPC in June and October 2023.
The "Bots & Bento" challenge embodies cutting-edge robotics and AI technologies pivotal in modern autonomous systems. SLAM algorithms are honed for accurate robot localization amidst dynamic environments, while efficient path planning is crucial for optimizing the collection and stacking of pallets. Precise motion control ensures safe and accurate handling of pallets for stable stacking. The competition leverages ROS and ROS2 frameworks for orchestrating a seamless choreography between perception, decision-making, and control, fostering modular, collaborative robotics development. Additionally, sensor fusion and machine learning for perception are crucial for a holistic understanding of the environment and advanced object recognition, respectively.
The competition further promotes real-time systems ensuring robustness in dynamic, unstructured environments, a core theme in contemporary robotics research. The provision of a hardware kit encourages hardware-software co-design, fostering innovation in integrated solutions for autonomous material handling. AI-driven decision-making enables adaptive strategies for stacking pallets based on their IDs, optimizing the process further. Although not explicitly mentioned, potential Human-Robot Interaction elements could be integrated to ensure safety and collaboration in shared spaces. Through a practical, industrially-relevant challenge, this competition provides a platform for the ICRA community to showcase, test, and advance the state-of-the-art in robotics and AI, aligning perfectly with ICRA's mission of propelling the global robotics community forward.
- TUM Venture Lab Robotics / AI : This early-stage robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) incubator of Technical University of Munich and UnternehmerTUM provides a unique, networked hub specifically tailored to scalable startups. We provide comprehensive support, including mentoring, access to industry experts, state-of-the-art facilities and tools, funding opportunities, and a vibrant community of like-minded innovators. By combining deep industry knowledge with a hands-on approach, we empower startups to rapidly develop and refine their technologies, gain a foothold in the marketplace, and successfully navigate the challenges of scaling. Our unique selling point lies in our commitment to disruptive deep-tech innovation and advancing the future of robotics and AI through our dedicated support ecosystem.
- UTIPC: UTokyo Innovation Platform Co., Ltd.(UTokyo IPC for short) supports various startups in deep tech fields, which have the potential to significantly change society, including life science and medicine, robotics and hardware, IT services and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the innovation ecosystem around universities. UTokyo IPC provides not only funding support but comprehensive mentoring support for academic technology seeds to deliver it to society and also consulting for team building. It operates the largest incubation program "1stRound", which is dedicated for pre-seed startups, entrepreneurs and researchers spin-out from universities and R&D entities. 1stRound is co-hosted by 13 of the most prominent universities and sponsored by 24 of industrial leading companies in Japan.
- OR: Olive Robotics GmbH is a leading provider of interoperable, software-defined robot hardware based in Munich, Germany. Within this challenge Olive Robotics will provide robotic kits, technical expertise, co-organizing and competition evaluation on-site.