From Individual Blocks to Finished Products
Just as in industrial production, robots in the competition need to handle a variety of products. They have to locate, transport, manipulate, assemble, and disassemble objects. Instead of using complex industrial components, the competition relies on standardized and lightweight building blocks. This approach allows teams to investigate challenging tasks in logistics, manipulation and assembly using comparatively simple and affordable hardware.
The product catalogue is based on two different block shapes, each available in four colors. These individual elements can be combined to create a variety of products. The resulting objects can then be transported and manipulated by robots or assembled and disassembled at a workbench.
A key part of our work was therefore the digital creation of the individual building blocks and the products assembled from them. Each object was defined according to the competition requirements and constructed from its individual components. This resulted in a structured product catalogue that documents both the available building blocks and the specific product configurations.
The catalogue provides a common foundation for the different tasks within the competition. In the Warehouse track, the focus is on locating, picking up, and reliably transporting objects. In the Workbench track, robots manipulate the products and perform step-by-step assembly or disassembly tasks.
The modular design of the products enables a gradual increase in complexity. Simple building blocks can be used to create increasingly challenging tasks and product configurations. At the same time, the system can be extended in future competitions with additional shapes, materials, colors, or tools to further increase the complexity and realism of the tasks.