Concern regarding the sudden changes

Dear ERC Organisers,

We recently reviewed the updated format for ERC 2025 and would like to first express our respect for the intent behind these changes. We understand the shift towards prioritising quality over quantity, and we appreciate the efforts being made to streamline and improve the competition.

However, we would like to raise a genuine concern regarding the timing and nature of these updates, especially the removal of Challenge 2. Like many other teams, we have invested significant time, planning, and effort into both challenges. This late-stage removal unfortunately puts teams like ours at a disadvantage, particularly in comparison to those who may have focused solely on Challenge 1 from the beginning.

We believe a more balanced transition could help maintain fairness. As a constructive suggestion, we propose the organisers collect a brief progress report from each team, evaluating the extent of work completed on Challenge 2. Based on this, a scaled point system could be introduced to acknowledge and reward the effort put into the challenge before its removal. We are welcome to any other opinions/suggestions regarding this above discussion from the other teams.

We sincerely hope the organising committee will consider this or a similar approach. Our aim, as always, is to uphold the spirit of ERC and to contribute meaningfully to the competition.

Thank you.

CRISS ROBOTICS

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Team Shunya supports this perspective. We also selected Challenge 2 for Payload Task and have dedicated countless hours to its development, from concept to testing. The sudden removal of this challenge so late in the timeline feels disadvantageous to teams like ours, especially when some teams might have already aligned their payload test with Challenge 1.

We believe it’s only fair that the efforts invested into Challenge 2 are acknowledged and rewarded in some form. A progress-based evaluation, as suggested by CRISS Robotics, would be a constructive and inclusive way forward. Let’s ensure that all dedicated work across teams is given the recognition it deserves.

Regards,
Team Shunya

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