European Robotics League (ERL) in Barcelona

Robots from all over Europe will descend on Barcelona for the European Robotics League’s Local Tournament, 20 – 24 November. It’s the first time the Spanish city has hosted the European Robotics League (ERL), and it will be held at PAL Robotics’ office.

We’re incredibly excited to announce that the call for participation is now open! The deadline for applications is 30 September, and successful teams will be announced on our blog article about ERF 2017 by mid-October.

Important dates:

  • 30 September 2017 – Deadline for application and request for travel support
  • 11 October 2017 – Qualification announcement
  • 20 November 2017 – Competition begins
  • 24 November 2017 – Competition ends

What is the ERL?

Made up of a series of Major and Local competitions, held at certified testbeds across Europe, the ERL is a key touchpoint in the robotics industry’s calendar. The Service Robots branch of the competition requires teams to successfully program robots that can navigate a typical home environment and complete set task and functionality benchmarks.

Keep an eye on the Local Tournament’s website to see what our testbed will look like.

As a Platinum Sponsor of the ERL – Service Robots Competition, we have lent TIAGo Steel robots at just €650 a month to four lucky teams who applied to use the robot to participate in the competition. Take a look at our blog to see who the lucky winners were!

The TIAGo Steel is a collaborative robot with a mobile base, 14 degrees of freedom, 6kg payload arm and gripper. Sold for around €49,000, the robot is an ideal platform for research into sectors such as healthcare and assisted-living.

We will also provide these teams with a free TIAGo Steel to use during the Tournament. As a result, it is set to be one of the best attended Tournaments of the 2017/2018 ERL Season.

How to apply

Teams that want to apply must send an email to erl.service@robotics-league.eu with the following information:

  • Team name
  • Team leader’s name
  • Total number of team members (including the team leader)
  • Affiliation
  • Contact information (e-mail and phone number of the team leader)
  • Website
  • Qualification material (see below)

Applicants are required to submit the following qualification material:

  • Team description paper (max. 4 pages) explaining the team’s approach to the technical challenges, including a brief description of software and hardware architectures, the relation to the team’s research, and a list of relevant publications
  • Video showing evidence of some performance in the tasks and/or functionalities of the Tournament
  • Completed travel support request form, if needed

Teams will be selected for participation (and travel support) based on:

  • Quality of application paper and research, as measured from the TDP and list of relevant publications
  • Quality of test performed in simulation, if required (due to a high number of applications)
  • Available funds for travel support (maximum of 2K€ per team per year)
  • Financial needs (as declared by the team’s request for travel support)

For more information, please visit the Local Tournament’s website.

If you have any question or doubt, visit our contact page and PAL Robotics’ blog.