Mission of the competition
- To give students the chance to develop practical robotics, programming, and problem-solving skills beyond the classroom, working with a real robot instead of just theory.
- To let student teams present their own solutions and ideas in front of faculty, peers, and — where possible — technically oriented companies, with an eye toward the teams’ future employability.
- To encourage students to discuss their designs with experts from the university and from industry, sharpening their critical thinking and creativity in the process.
- To give students the experience of working in an environment that is creative and competitive, but friendly.
Every semester, students at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics, Technical University of Košice get the chance to put these skills to the test — not on paper, but on the floor of a real competition arena, with a real robot in front of them.
The competition is built around a single robotic platform: an omnidirectional mobile manipulator that drives on four mecanum wheels and carries a small robotic arm. The robot can be steered by hand through a simple web interface, or driven entirely by code that competitors write themselves. That mix — some tasks manual, some fully programmatic — is what makes the event interesting for beginners and experienced programmers alike.
What does it actually look like?
Picture a room with several arenas taped out on the floor — black tape marking tracks, gates, parking bays, and checkpoints on plain floor tiles. At each station, a small robot about the size of a shoebox waits for its team. Competitors connect to it over WiFi from a laptop or phone, or plug in their own control script, then get a fixed time window — usually a few minutes — to complete the task in front of a judge with a stopwatch and a scoresheet.
There’s no single run that decides everything: the competition is split into four separate stations, each testing a different skill, and teams rotate between them over the course of the event.
The four stations
Manual Driving — pure hand-eye coordination. Competitors steer the robot through a taped-out course with turns and checkpoints, using nothing but the on-screen direction buttons.
Line Tracking — a step toward autonomy. Teams calibrate the robot’s sensors to follow a black line on the floor and watch it complete a track with as few mistakes as possible.
Garbage Collection — driving meets manipulation. Competitors steer the robot around the arena and use its three-jointed arm to pick up small objects and carry them to a collection zone.
Parking and Delivery — the most advanced station. No manual driving allowed here: competitors write code that moves the robot sideways on its mecanum wheels, parking it precisely in a narrow bay and delivering a small payload.
How the day is structured
- The event runs as a single competition day, opening with a short briefing where the rules, scoring, and safety procedures are presented to all teams.
- Before scored runs begin, each team’s robot goes through a quick technical check to confirm it matches the platform and rules described in the competition’s Manuals and Rules document.
- Teams then rotate through the four stations in turn, with a practice attempt and two scored attempts at each.
- The day closes with the announcement of results for each station and overall.
Conditions of participation
- Teams of one to three students may register; each team competes with one robot.
- There is no age limit — any registered student may enter, regardless of study year.
- Each team must register in advance through the online registration form, which records at least: the team’s name, the members’ names, the robot’s name, and the stations the team intends to enter. Registering on the day itself is only possible in exceptional cases, at the organizers’ discretion.
- Each registered competitor receives a badge identifying their team and the competition.
Rights and obligations of competing teams
Each team has the right to:
- appeal a judge’s decision in writing within 24 hours of the results being announced — the organizing committee will respond within 3 days, and this decision is final,
- receive all relevant information about the competition (schedule, rules, safety instructions) in advance,
- receive a certificate confirming their participation.
Each team is expected to:
- follow all instructions from the organizers, in particular anything related to safety,
- read and comply with the Manuals and Rules document before competing,
- cover the cost of any damage caused by failing to follow the organizational or competition rules.
Who is it for?
No prior robotics experience is required. Manual Driving is a fair starting point for complete beginners, while Line Tracking and Parking and Delivery reward teams who enjoy sensors, calibration, and writing their own control logic. Every team gets a practice attempt before the clock starts on the scored runs.
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