RoboCup has run since 1997 and is the most prestigious robotics event in the world. It started from one audacious sentence: "By 2050, a team of humanoid robots shall beat the human football World Cup champions." That goal is still unmet — but it pushed generations of researchers into machine vision, bipedal walking and multi-agent coordination.
Two separate worlds under one name
- RoboCup Major — university and research level. Teams are usually postgraduate students backed by a lab.
- RoboCupJunior — strictly under 19. This is where school students belong, and a home-built robot with good code is enough to enter.
The branches and their leagues
1. RoboCupSoccer
- Humanoid League — bipedal robots in KidSize and AdultSize; mechanically the hardest league there is.
- Standard Platform League — every team uses the identical NAO robot, so only the code decides the winner.
- Middle Size League — large wheeled robots, fully onboard vision and decision-making.
- Small Size League — very fast small robots with an overhead camera and centralised brain.
- Simulation 2D / 3D — no hardware at all; pure algorithm and AI competition.
2. RoboCupRescue
- Rescue Robot League — the robot must traverse an earthquake-rubble arena and locate victims.
- Rescue Simulation — coordinating dozens of agents across a disaster-struck city.
3. RoboCup@Home
This branch tests robots in a real house: understanding spoken commands, finding objects, interacting with people. Three leagues: Open Platform, Domestic Standard Platform (Toyota HSR) and Social Standard Platform (Pepper).
4. RoboCup Industrial
@Work and the Logistics League put robots to work in a workshop and warehouse — the branch closest to actual industry jobs.
5. RoboCupJunior
Three families: Rescue (Rescue Line, Rescue Maze, CoSpace Rescue Simulation), Soccer and OnStage.
How teams reach the world final
- Compete nationally — for Iran, usually RoboCup IranOpen.
- Earn a slot or an invitation from the league committee.
- Submit a Team Description Paper (TDP) explaining the design and algorithms. Many teams are cut here, not on the field.
- Get approved and travel to the world event.
Where Iran stands
Iran is among the most active RoboCup nations, with world titles in simulation and rescue leagues and one of the region's largest RoboCup events each year. For an Iranian student the gap between "a robotics class" and "the world stage" is shorter than it looks — provided the league is chosen well.
Frequently asked questions
What ages can enter RoboCup?
The Junior branch runs up to age 19 and is realistic from around age 10. The Major branch is effectively university level with no age cap.
Do we need to buy an expensive robot?
No. Simulation and CoSpace leagues need no hardware at all, and Junior rescue robots can be built from ordinary components. The real cost is time and practice.
Where is RoboCup held?
The world host changes each year and is announced in advance by the RoboCup Federation. National and regional events such as IranOpen run annually.
Want to compete in this league?
Novin Zehn competition teams train from zero to the world stage — in Tehran and live online.
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