RoboCup 2021 Worldwide: A Successful Robotics Competition During a Pandemic [Competitions]

The COVID-19 global pandemic has challenged the entire academic community (and the whole world) to adopt new and creative ways of making progress. Most conferences have now organized at least one fully virtual event, often including keynote lectures, paper presentation sessions, poster sessions, and even social events. However, when the core of one’s event is a collection of competitions among physical robots, what can be done when researchers are not able to travel? This article answers that question by recounting RoboCup 2021 Worldwide, a successful robotics competitions held during the summer of 2021.