The European Robotic League (ERL) is an innovative concept for robot competitions. The ERL is composed of multiple Local Tournaments, held in different research labs across Europe, with certified test beds, and a few competitions as part of Major Tournaments, such as RoboCup. Teams participate in a minimum of 2 tournaments (Local and/or Major) per year and get scores based on their performances. A final end of year score is computed for each team, per Task Benchmark (TBM) and Functionality Benchmark (FBM), using the best two participation in tournaments, and teams are ranked based on their final score. Prizes for the top teams (per TBM and FBM where they have participated) are awarded during the next year's European Robotics Forum (ERF).

The ERL-IR tournament stems from its predecessor, the RoCKIn@Work competition, and focuses on the domain of industrial robotics in the Factory of the Future and also deals with modern automation issues.