Defending the Goal and Winning the World Cup

What seemed impossible became a reality this year. With our advanced, intelligent robots, we dominated every match in the RoboCup 2024 Small Size League, held from July 17-21 in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Our team emerged victorious against top competitors worldwide, earning us the world championship title for the fourth consecutive time.

From Thailand in 2022 to France in 2023 and now the Netherlands in 2024, our track record speaks for itself. Our preparation for this year’s championship began with a series of first-place victories: at the Schubert Open in Crailsheim and the German Open in Kassel. Our secret to success? Relentless improvement. Despite our numerous wins, we continue refining our AI, enhancing our hardware, and experimenting with new strategies. This dedication reflects the core purpose of RoboCup: advancing scientific progress in robotics and AI and sharing those advancements with the global research community through passion and sportsmanship.

Unstoppable From Day One

We arrived in Eindhoven ready to perfect every detail, from final coding adjustments to field tests and even carpet adjustments. The RoboCup kicked off on Wednesday evening with scientific presentations, including our open-source showcase and participation in the Black and White Hull Challenge.

The tournament began in earnest on Thursday, with group-stage matches against Germany’s Immortals and the Netherlands' RoboTeam Twente, which we won decisively with scores of 10:0. That morning, we also triumphed in the Pass Tec Challenge, a 4-on-4 passing competition. Friday saw another 10:0 win, this time against Japan’s RoboDragons, securing us the top spot in our group. On Saturday, victories in the knockout rounds (9:0 against ER Force from Germany and 3:0 against ZJUNlict from China) advanced us to the final match. We clinched the championship with a 4:0 victory over ZJUNlict, sealing our place atop the World Cup podium.

Recognized for Skill, Innovation, and Team Spirit

Our expertise, strategic excellence, and team spirit were further honored with four additional awards: the Excellence Award, the Open Source Award, the Best TDP Award, and the Most Helpful Team Award. These accolades recognized not only our success on the field but also our commitment to knowledge-sharing, sportsmanship, and collaborative progress.

Rector Prof. Dr. Georg Nagler, who watched the games live online, praised the achievement: “The TIGERs are already world leaders in AI applications—a tremendous source of pride and motivation for our entire Mannheim university community.” Prof. Dr. Nathan Sudermann-Merx, Professor of Computer Science with a focus on Artificial Intelligence and the project’s scientific director since 2021, shared his pride and enthusiasm as well.

As we celebrate this year’s triumph, we’re already looking ahead, beginning preparations for the 2025 World Cup in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, with our sights set on another title defense.