Delft Mercurians

What Delft Mercurians does

Delft Mercurians is a non-profit student robotics team at TU Delft, formed in September 2022 as a project under the Robotics Student Association (RSA). The team designs and builds fully autonomous football robots that compete in the RoboCup Small Size League (SSL), where six robots per side play 10-minute matches on a roughly 12m x 9m field with an orange golf ball. Robots must conform to F180 rules (180mm diameter, no higher than 15cm), and the team works across management, software, hardware, and electronics, with a team of roughly 21 multicultural and multidisciplinary members drawn from Robotics, Computer Science, Nano-biology, and Mechanical Engineering programs. The team's stated technological focus is breaking away from converged robot designs that have stagnated innovation in the SSL league, with the goal of producing novel architectures that challenge incumbents.

The team's go-to-market is competition-driven: it has competed in RoboCup Eindhoven (2024) and RoboCup Brazil (2025), and is preparing for RoboCup 2026 in Seoul. Funding is entirely through a tiered sponsorship program (GHz, MHz, kHz) comprising academic and industry partners including TU Delft Robotics Institute, bGlobal, RS Components, Nanotec, ST Microelectronics, Basler, Cognitive Robotics, and Robohouse. The team publishes Team Description Papers (TDPs) annually for the RoboCup selection procedure and shares code publicly on GitHub. There is no commercial product, no pricing model, and no revenue — the organization operates as a student extracurricular project under the institutional umbrella of the RSA. Day-to-day operations are conducted in English, and recruitment is handled through a public application process with defined role interests spanning engineering, design, and management.

Name

Delft Mercurians

Legal name

Delft Mercurians

Website

https://delftmercurians.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Delft Mercurians is a TU Delft student robotics team that designs and builds fully autonomous football robots for the RoboCup Small Size League, competing internationally against university teams and funded through academic and industry sponsorships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educational Robotics / Autonomous Robot Systems

akta.pro primary industry

Swarm Robotics & Multi-Agent Systems (HDAAAIAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Robot Hardware, Actuators & Components (sensors, grippers, motors) (HDAAAIAL)

Keywords

• Autonomous robotics
• Multi-agent systems
• Robot soccer
• RoboCup competition
• Student engineering

Headquarters

HQ city

Delft

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Sponsorship Revenue: Funded entirely through sponsors at various tiers (GHz, MHz, kHz levels) and partners. Sponsors include technology companies, component suppliers, and institutional partners.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Delft Mercurians designs and builds fully autonomous football robots for the RoboCup Small Size League (SSL). Each team fields 6 robots that play 10-minute 6 vs 6 matches on a green carpeted field (~12m x 9m) using an orange golf ball. Robots conform to F180 rules (180mm diameter, max 15cm height) and operate with a hybrid centralized/distributed control system using overhead cameras for object tracking. The team develops all hardware, electronics, and software in-house and participates in international RoboCup competitions.

Product overview

Delft Mercurians is a student robotics team from TU Delft that develops fully autonomous football robots for the RoboCup Small Size League (SSL). Their product is the autonomous football robot system designed for 6 vs 6 matches, where robots must conform to F180 rules (180mm diameter, 15cm height) and play with an orange golf ball on a green carpeted field. The team develops both hardware (robot mechanics and electronics) and software (autonomous control and cooperation systems) as an integrated product. The team also produces Team Description Papers (TDPs) documenting their technical approaches for RoboCup selection procedures.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Autonomous SSL Football Robot System A team of 6 fully autonomous F180-compliant football robots (180mm diameter, 15cm max height) for RoboCup Small Size League 6 vs 6 matches, using hybrid centralized/distributed multi-agent control and overhead camera tracking on a green carpeted field (~12m x 9m) with an orange golf ball. Developed for international RoboCup competition entries rather than commercial sale.

Quantifiable outcome

• Participated in 2 international RoboCup competitions within 2 years of founding

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Robotics Student Association (RSA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2022Parent organization that spawned the Delft Mercurians project in September 2022. RSA is an association focused on advancing robotics through student projects and events. The team is based at RSA facilities in Delft.
• TU Delft Robotics InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInstitutional research partner at GHz sponsorship level. Provides academic and research support for the team's robotics development efforts.
• bGlobalmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnology sponsor supporting the team's robotics development.
• RS ComponentsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerComponent supplier sponsor providing electronic components and hardware for robot development.
• NanotecmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerElectronics/motor component sponsor supporting the team's hardware needs.
• Cognitive Robotics (CoR)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic department partner from TU Delft's Faculty of Mechanical Engineering providing research collaboration and expertise.
• ST MicroelectronicsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMHz level sponsor providing semiconductor components for the robots' electronics systems.
• Van Keulen InterieurbouwminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal sponsor providing interior/fabrication support for the team.
• BaslermajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVision system hardware sponsor providing cameras essential for the robot soccer tracking system.
• TinytronicsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerElectronics component supplier sponsor supporting robot hardware development.
• RobohousemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRobotics innovation hub partner providing resources and collaboration opportunities for the team.
• Roboteam TwenteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborator from University of Twente, another Dutch RoboCup team for knowledge sharing and competition preparation.
• TIGERS MannheimminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGerman RoboCup team collaborator for international knowledge exchange and friendly competition.
• ER-ForceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGerman RoboCup team from Erlangen collaborating on technical development and competition strategies.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• ZJUNlict: Zhejiang University's RoboCup SSL team, a long-standing top contender in the league. Direct SSL competitor under the same F180 specifications and hybrid centralized/distributed multi-agent architecture.
• CMDragons: Carnegie Mellon University's RoboCup SSL team, historically one of the most successful entrants in the league. Direct SSL peer operating with substantially greater resources but in the same F180 autonomous robot soccer category.
• ER-Force: RoboCup SSL team from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany. Direct SSL competitor operating under the same F180 rules and multi-agent cooperation paradigm, and named collaborator of Delft Mercurians.
• UBC Thunderbots: University of British Columbia's RoboCup SSL team. Direct SSL competitor with comparable university-student team structure building autonomous soccer robots under the same F180 specifications.
• MRL: Iranian RoboCup SSL team. Direct peer competing in the same autonomous multi-agent robot soccer format under identical F180 rules.
• Roboteam Twente: Dutch RoboCup SSL team from the University of Twente. Direct peer competing in the same league with similar university-student team structure; listed as a knowledge-sharing collaborator by Delft Mercurians.
• TIGERS Mannheim: German RoboCup Small Size League team competing in the same 6v6 autonomous robot soccer format. Directly comparable as a fellow SSL competitor and listed in Delft Mercurians' own collaborator network.

Others

• TU Delft Robotics Institute: Top-tier ('GHz') institutional sponsor and parent-academic ecosystem for Delft Mercurians. Not a competitor but the research partner that provides academic support and channels the team into broader Dutch robotics research.
• RoboHouse: Dutch robotics innovation hub and incubator, listed as a major partner of Delft Mercurians. Adjacent rather than competing: provides ecosystem support, resources, and collaboration opportunities for Dutch robotics initiatives.
• RoboCup Federation: International organizer of the RoboCup competitions in which Delft Mercurians participates. Not a competitor but the governing body defining SSL rules (F180), competition format, and selection procedures (TDP submissions).

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/delftmercurians
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/delft-mercurians
• Instagraminstagram.com/delftmercurians

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Delft Mercurians