TechUnited Eindhoven

What TechUnited Eindhoven does

TechUnited Eindhoven is a multidisciplinary robotics research team based at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in the Netherlands, founded in 2005. It is composed of current and former students, PhD researchers, and university employees working across mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science. The team's primary technical outputs are autonomous robotic systems developed and validated inside the international RoboCup competition circuit. Its competitive portfolio comprises the TURTLE series of fully autonomous soccer robots that compete in five-robot teams in the Middle Size League on a 22x14 meter field, and the HERO, AMIGO, and SERGIO service robots that compete in the @Home League. Supporting technologies include on-board vision pipelines built on YOLOv5 and OpenPose, a swerve-drive omnidirectional platform, a hierarchical Skills, Tactics and Plays (STP) coordination framework, and integration with the RoboEarth shared-learning network.

The team's commercial footprint is intentionally minimal. It does not sell products; instead, it generates modest revenue through customized, quote-based commercial demonstrations for corporate clients, supplemented by industrial sponsorships (ASML, Beckhoff, maxon, Avular, Sanders Machinebouw, VDL Robotbouw). All structural funding flows from TU/e, with the team operating inside the university's Control Systems Technology section. Outreach is delivered via free demonstrations at primary and secondary schools, intended to drive interest in technology careers, and via media coverage of competition performance. In 2024 TechUnited won its eighth MSL World Championship on home soil in Eindhoven, and in July 2026 it fielded both MSL and humanoid robot teams at RoboCup Incheon. The team's stated strategic mission is to develop robots capable of beating human FIFA world champions by 2050 while advancing service robotics for elder care, and it releases hardware designs through the open-source Robotic Open Platform.

Name

TechUnited Eindhoven

Legal name

Tech United

Website

https://techunited.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

TechUnited Eindhoven is a TU/e-affiliated robotics research team developing fully autonomous soccer robots (TURTLE) and service/care robots (HERO, AMIGO, SERGIO) for the international RoboCup competition circuit, funded primarily by Eindhoven University of Technology and industrial sponsors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Autonomous Robotics Research

NAICS

Commercial and Service Industry Machinery Manufacturing (333310)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Robot Software, Autonomy Stacks & Simulation (ROS, digital twins) (HDAAAIAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Humanoid & General-Purpose Robots (HDAAAIAJ), Robot Hardware, Actuators & Components (sensors, grippers, motors) (HDAAAIAL)

Keywords

• Autonomous robotics research
• Soccer robot competition
• Service robot development
• Robotics demonstration services
• Multi-agent robot systems

Headquarters

HQ city

Eindhoven

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Research Funding: Primary funding comes from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) as a research project. Additional funding through commercial demonstrations and sponsorships.
2. Commercial Demonstrations: Tech United provides commercial demonstrations that can be fully adapted to specific wishes and needs, both internally at RoboCup stadium and externally at desired locations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

TechUnited Eindhoven develops fully autonomous soccer robots (TURTLE series) competing in the RoboCup Middle Size League, where two teams of five robots play autonomously on a 22x14 meter field. The team also develops service/care robots (HERO, AMIGO, SERGIO) for the RoboCup @Home League to support elderly independence and domestic assistance. Beyond research, the team offers free school demonstrations to inspire children in technology and paid commercial demonstrations to fund research.

Product overview

Tech United is a multidisciplinary robotics research team from Eindhoven University of Technology that develops autonomous robots for international competitions. The portfolio consists of TURTLE soccer robots for the RoboCup Middle Size League and service robots (HERO, AMIGO, SERGIO) for the @Home League. Both robot types share technological components including wheels, software frameworks, and sensor systems. The team also provides educational school tours and commercial demonstrations to fund research and promote technology awareness.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• TURTLE Soccer Robots Fully autonomous soccer robots that compete in the RoboCup Middle Size League, where two teams of five robots play autonomously on a 22x14 meter field using on-board sensors, distributed multi-agent systems, and swerve drive motion control.
• HERO Service Robot Service robot designed to assist in home and care situations, enabling elderly people to function independently for longer. Capabilities include object recognition, navigation, person recognition, speech recognition, and task execution in dynamic home environments.
• AMIGO Service Robot Service robot developed for the @Home League competition, capable of household tasks including navigation, object manipulation, face recognition, and human-robot interaction. Part of the RoboEarth project for robot learning from shared databases. Blueprints released as open source through the Robotic Open Platform (ROP).
• SERGIO Service Robot Successor to AMIGO in the @Home League, continuing development of service robot capabilities for home assistance and building on shared knowledge from the RoboEarth network.
• School Tour Demonstrations Free educational demonstrations at primary and secondary schools where TechUnited brings the soccer field, goals, and robots to give students an impression of robot soccer and showcase technological developments.
• Commercial Demonstrations Paid demonstrations for commercial purposes available as static or dynamic shows with soccer and service robots. Can be conducted internally at the RoboCup stadium or externally at desired client locations, fully adapted to specific wishes and needs.

Quantifiable outcome

• 8 World Championship titles in RoboCup MSL since 2012
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability8 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTech United is based at and primarily funded by TU/e. The team uses university facilities including the RoboCup stadium, laboratories, and benefits from access to students, PhD researchers, and faculty expertise across mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• PAL Robotics: Spanish service and humanoid robot manufacturer (TIAGo, TIAGo Pro, TALOS) targeting the same domestic-assistance and human-robot interaction use cases as HERO/AMIGO/SERGIO. Like TechUnited, PAL Robotics is deeply embedded in European robotics research and competes in RoboCup-adjacent benchmarks.
• Fraunhofer IPA (Care-O-bot): German applied-research organization that developed the Care-O-bot series of service robots for home assistance, directly comparable to TechUnited's @Home League HERO platform and the same elderly-independence use case.
• RoboTeam Twente: Fellow Dutch university RoboCup team from the University of Twente, collaborating with TechUnited as referenced in the data. Operates the same kind of multidisciplinary student/PhD model competing in RoboCup leagues, making it the closest structural and competitive analogue.
• Toyota HSR (Toyota Research Institute): Toyota's Human Support Robot is a benchmark service robot for in-home assistance, often referenced in @Home League contexts and overlapping with TechUnited's HERO use cases around elderly independence.

Emerging players

• Apptronik: US-based humanoid robot company (Apollo) targeting industrial and service applications. Operates in the same emerging commercial humanoid space TechUnited is now entering via its RoboCup 2026 humanoid team.
• 1X Technologies: Norwegian/US humanoid robot company (NEO) backed by OpenAI, developing humanoids for home and service applications — overlapping with both TechUnited's service-robot and emerging humanoid programs.
• Figure AI: US-based humanoid robot company developing general-purpose humanoids. Represents the well-capitalized commercial category that TechUnited's humanoid research program is positioned alongside, and which could either acquire or outpace the team's efforts.
• Agility Robotics: US-based humanoid robot company (Digit) that, like TechUnited's new humanoid program, targets real-world mobility and manipulation use cases. Represents the commercial trajectory TechUnited's humanoid research could follow or compete against.

Broad incumbents

• Boston Dynamics: Established US-based robotics leader with humanoid (Atlas) and mobile manipulation platforms. While operating at far greater scale, Boston Dynamics represents the long-term commercial trajectory for the autonomous mobility, manipulation, and multi-agent capabilities TechUnited researches.
• SoftBank Robotics: Global incumbent in social/service robotics (NAO, Pepper). NAO is the standard platform in the RoboCup Standard Platform League, giving SoftBank Robotics a deep connection to the same RoboCup ecosystem TechUnited operates in, and overlapping use cases in social/elderly interaction.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/techunited
• GitHubgitlab.tue.nl/tech-united-eindhoven/Turtle3
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/TechUnited
• Facebookfacebook.com/techunited
• Instagraminstagram.com/techunitedeindhoven
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/techunited

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 TechUnited Eindhoven