designed and created by Raymond Sheh

A unique challenge for this year was the distributed nature of the competition. Shipping a traditional trophy to winners was not practical, yet we wanted teams to have a trophy that would look fitting alongside other RoboCup trophies acknowledging the unique circumstances of this year's competition. It was decided that 3D printing was the way to go for the main body of the trophy, with the .stl file sent to award winners to manufacture in a distributed fashion. Teams can add their own spin on the trophy, such as printing it in their institution colours.

To authenticate the trophy, an official laser engraved anodised aluminum plate will be sent to each awarded team by the RoboCup Federation. This plate includes the details of the award and team name, and slots into the trophy to form the overall, official RoboCup Worldwide 2021 Trophy.

The design of the outer trophy focused on being easy to print while still being meaningful to RoboCup. It draws inspiration from the style and lessons learned in the RoboCupRescue Rapidly Manufactured Robot Challenge, where many teams develop and share open source designs for 3D printed robots. Like these robots, the body of the trophy is designed to be easily printable on a low cost, fused deposition modelling (FDM) 3D printer. For the first time, it also allows teams to customise the trophy. It can be printed in a single colour, with the RoboCup Worldwide 2021 logo clearly visible regardless of if the trophy is front, back, or top lit, or teams can choose to switch filament to contrasting colours partway through.

The trophy was designed to be printed in PLA on a conventional FDM (extruded filament) printer, with a printable volume of at least 100x100x50 mm. This means that it should be printable on most 3D printers and compatible filaments (or other feed materials).

Printing advice (for FDM printers):

• Print flat on its back (the .stl file is already properly oriented).

• Support material is not required. A brim or raft may be useful if you're getting edge lifting.

• Only minimal infill (10%-30%) should be required.

• Printing in fine mode (0.1-0.2mm layer height) and at least 3 wall and top layers will help with smoothness.

• If you would like the logo in a different colour, start printing with the logo colour and switch filaments at around the 8 mm mark.