Robot soccer - Leipzigers want to win the world championship title again

"In 2018, we were already world champions. Since then, we've been kind of cursed to always finish second. So a victory would be an absolute treat," said Polter. Starting July 5, he and his 12-member team will face teams from around the world - including teams from Switzerland, Ireland, Australia, the United States and Italy. "It's exactly the nerd event you imagine," Polter says with a smile.

Unique strategies: team spirit and open codes

With many new faces on the team, the atmosphere in Leipzig is exuberant, the 31-year-old reports. "The competitions are always great fun. Despite the competition, we all maintain a friendly relationship with each other." In a spirit of cooperation, some teams even publish their code, revealing their strategies and masterpieces.

The HTWK team plays in a special league, Polter explains. "With us, everyone has the same robots. So it's all about the software, the code." In other leagues, teams develop and build their AI-controlled soccer robots themselves.

The Leipzig team is the only one that has opted to have Star Dust, Dawn and their robo-mates carry their arms behind their backs. "This makes us slimmer and allows us to slip through any gap. We want to avoid damaging the robots," Polter says. Because carrying off as little damage as possible is important: "If a robot breaks, we can't intervene during the game. We then have to continue with one less robot on the field."