Press

​Vom 10. – 14. März 2026 laden die RoboCup German Open im Rahmen der didacta 2026 auf die Messe in Köln ein.

​Wo: Koelnmesse (Messeplatz 1, 50679) - Halle 9

Das gibt es zu sehen:
• 10.03.2026 - Setup/Aufbau der Wettbewerbsflächen und erste Trainings
• 11.03.2026 - Major-Wettbewerbe
• 12.03.2026 - 11:45 Uhr offizielle Eröffnung mit Bundesforschungsministerin Dorothee Bär / Junior- und Major-Wettbewerbe
• 13.03.2026 - Junior- und Major-Wettbewerbe
• 14.03.2026 - Junior- und Major- Finaltag, am Nachmittag Siegerehrung Junior 14 Uhr, Siegerehrung Major 15:30 Uhr

Für eine Berichterstattung vor Ort empfehlen wir den 12. und 13.03.2026.

Die Hallen öffnen täglich (10. bis 14.03.) von 9 bis 17 Uhr.

Die Medien-Akkreditierung erfolgt über die didacta 2026 hier: https://www.didacta-koeln.de/presse/teilnahme-fuer-medienvertreter/akkreditierung-fuer-journalisten/    

Bitte teilen Sie uns in jedem Fall an kommunikation@robocup.de die Namen der Personen mit, die die RoboCup German Open 2026 besuchen. Sie erhalten dann am Info-Stand im vorderen Bereich der Halle 9 ein Media-Badge. Aus Datenschutzgründen werden uns die Daten der offiziellen Medienakkreditierung nicht übermittelt.  

Offizielle Eröffnung durch Bundesforschungsministerin Dorothee Bär (Schirmherrin RoboCup German Open 2026):

12. März 2026, 11:45 Uhr auf der Bühne in Halle 9

- Persönliches Grußwort der Bundesforschungsministerin Dorothee Bär, Schirmherrin der RoboCup German Open 2026 (nach ihrem Auftritt bei der 2nd German Robotics Conference)
- anschließender Rundgang mit der Bundesministerin über die Wettbewerbsflächen

Mehr Informationen über die RoboCup German Open 2026 erhalten Sie in unserer letzten Pressemitteilung.

Presseanfragen (auch Interviewanfragen mit teilnehmenden Teams) senden Sie bitte an kommunikation@robocup.de

What is Robocup?

The world's largest robotics and AI competition, held annually since 1997.

 

Includes leagues in the following areas:

Soccer: Autonomous robots compete against each other in leagues using different platforms. All robots are autonomous, i.e., not remote-controlled. This means that they must perceive their surroundings, plan and execute their movements independently and in real time, and cooperate with each other in a highly dynamic environment.

Rescue: Teams use both remote-controlled and fully autonomous robots in simulated disaster scenarios. Challenges include mobility, exploration, manipulation of objects, and perception of the environment. These are derived from real-world requirements in the field of locating and rescuing people in difficult-to-access terrain.

Household: Service robots perform everyday household tasks in realistic, unstructured environments and demonstrate how they can support people in their daily lives.

Industry: The competitions address largely unresolved research questions for future production processes that underlie logistical processes and workflows.

Long-term goal: To develop autonomous humanoid robots that will be able to compete against the human soccer world champions in a fair game and win by 2050.

In addition to research, RoboCup also promotes young talent in STEM subjects: in the RoboCupJunior leagues, students up to the age of 19 compete against each other in the categories of soccer, rescue, or stage performance.

Why is RoboCup important?

• The aim of RoboCup is to strengthen robotics and AI research through high-profile but challenging competitions.
• The current breakthroughs in humanoid robotics, image processing, and AI are based on decades of development. RoboCup has played an important role in this: the first games of autonomous soccer robots took place in RoboCup almost 30 years ago.
• A lot of research is still needed before the robots' hardware and software are robust enough to excel in all scenarios – which is why the scientific exchange promoted by RoboCup is so important.

RoboCup in Germany

• The GermanOpen (German Championships) is one of the largest national RoboCup competitions. It has been held annually since 2002.
• More than 1,000 participants in the junior and major leagues.
• Over a hundred schools from all over Germany take part in the local qualifying tournaments for the RoboCupJunior.
• International teams from all over the world travel to Germany every year to take part in the GermanOpen.
• Germany is one of the world's leading countries in RoboCup: with 10 medals, German teams were more successful than teams from any other nation that took part in the 2025 RoboCup World Championship.

 

Upcoming Robocup events in Germany

German Open 2026: March 10–14, 2026, Cologne Exhibition Center
World Championships 2027: June 15–21, 2027, Nuremberg Exhibition Center

Press inquiries

All press inquiries can be directed to kommunikation@robocup.de.