French Robotic cup

Designed and developed a fleet of autonomous robots for a european robotics competition involving 100+ teams and real-time matches.
Led a 12-member multidisciplinary team while contributing to embedded systems, communication architecture, and decision-making algorithms.

Problem & Objectives

The French Robotic Cup is a yearly engineering competition where fully autonomous robots compete in 100-second matches under strict constraints (no remote control, dynamic environment, evolving rules each year).

Key challenges:

• Build a fully custom autonomous system (LiDAR, decision-making, actuation)
• Ensure robust communication in a highly noisy environment (100+ robots operating simultaneously, whether on the match or the padocks)
• Coordinate multiple robots acting as a system, not individually
• Deliver a competition-ready robot before deadline, enabling full system testing

Objective:
Develop a reliable, competitive robotic system capable of executing a full match strategy autonomously and consistently.

My Contributions

Technical (Embedded & Systems):

• Designed a custom inter-board communication protocol (“Intercom”)
• Implemented parts of the robot position control system (closed-loop control)
• Contributed to decision-making algorithms governing robot behavior during matches
• Developed low-frequency wireless communication (LoRa, ~400 MHz) for multi-robot coordination
• Programmed autonomous robots in C/C++ on custom ESP32-S3 PCBs

System Architecture:

• Designed communication enabling coordinated multi-robot strategies
• Ensured robustness against RF interference in a congested competition environment

Project Management:

• Led a team of 12 students, all of them more experienced/older
• Structured the project lifecycle around Agile-based principles
• Drove team motivation and alignment toward a shared competitive goal
• Enforced early delivery milestones to enable earlier software integration

Approach & Technical Work

The project involved building:

• A main autonomous robot
• Several secondary robots
• A communication system allowing them to work together as a coordinated fleet

The goal was not just to build robots, but to make them collaborate intelligently in real time.

Technical Breakdown

Embedded Systems & Control

Microcontrollers: ESP32-S3 (custom PCB)
Languages: C / C++
Implemented position control (closed-loop control):
Sensor feedback → error computation → motor correction
Ensures precise movement under dynamic conditions

Communication Architecture

• Designed a custom protocol (Intercom) for inter-board communication, in Python and C++
• Implemented LoRa-based communication (~400 MHz):
  • Lower frequency → better penetration and reduced interference
  • Critical in an environment with dozens of competing RF systems

Multi-Robot Coordination

Distributed architecture:

• Each robot operates autonomously
• Shared information (LiDAR data) enables coordinated actions and improves situational awareness and pathplanning
• Enabled task distribution and synchronization across robots

Decision-Making System

Designed logic for:

• Action prioritization
• Match strategy execution
• Real-time adaptation to the opponent during the 100-second match