Student Robotics

This task involved moving and stacking cans of food in an arena, and marks the return of Student Robotics to an in-person competition following the COVID-19 pandemic.

This competition year also marked a transition to Python 3 on the physical kit, and a new computer vision system based on OpenCV.

Arena for "This Way Up" in "The Cube"

23 teams attended the competition that was held at the University of Southampton on 23 and 24 April 2022.[12] Notably, the competition had two arenas, one for testing only and one for matches. The arenas were also smaller than previous years at 6.5m x 6.5m, compared to the previous 8m x 8m.

This task involved using virtual radios to navigate an arena and "claim" a number of towers. The 2021 competition was held remotely using the same simulator framework that was used for the 2020 competition, which allowed for this novel navigation system in addition to a number of more traditional sensor components.[13]

Due to the remote nature of the competition, the usual structure of having a weekend with all matches on was replaced with four game "modules". League sessions were held over a number of weeks, with a new module and therefore additional complexity introduced into the game after each league session.[14]

This task involved gathering cardboard boxes (tokens) of exactly one colour. Both Gold and Silver tokens were placed in the arena. A central raised platform was placed at the centre of the arena to act as an obstacle.[15]

The competition was due to be held at Reading University Students Union on 18 and 19 April,[16] but was delayed,[17] and then eventually cancelled[18] due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The virtual arena from the Student Robotics 2020 Live-stream

A virtual competition was held[19] instead of the physical competition across three weekends in July 2020. A simulated environment based on Webots was developed and distributed to teams. Teams were instructed to submit code at the start of each competition day, so that matches could be pre-recorded, and then live-streamed over YouTube.

This final resulted in a 4-way tie so a tiebreaker match was held, the first since 2013.

The Robot and Team Image award was not issued this year.[20] This year also marked the first year to use Python 3 for student code, albeit only for the competition simulator.

This task involved moving cardboard boxes (tokens) around the arena in order to capture zones. A central "volcano" was placed at the centre of the arena to act as an obstacle; zones on the volcano were worth more points.[21]

37 teams attended the competition that was held at the University of Southampton on 6 and 7 April 2019.[22]

There was no Student Robotics competition in 2018. Due to some organisational issues within the charity, it was decided to take a year off to reorganise and ensure the longevity of the charity.[23]

Two alternate competitions were held with very similar characteristics and involved many of the original volunteers.

• SourceBots - A ten team competition was held at the University of Southampton on 21 and 22 April.[24]
• Hills Road Robocon - A twelve team competition was held at Hills Road Sixth Form College.[25]

The task involved picking up cardboard cubes labelled A, B or C, and placing them in the team's allocated zone, scoring additional points by collecting cubes in the order ABC.

The competition was held on 31 March to 1 April 2017 at The Racecourse, Newbury.

The task involved rotating cardboard cubes to the colour of the respective teams, and scoring additional points by picking up the cubes and placing them in the corners.

The competition was held on 30 April to 1 May 2016 at The Racecourse, Newbury.

The task involved "capturing" small wooden cubes ("Flags") from their starting positions by moving them into the team's scoring area.

The competition was held on 25–26 April 2015 at The Racecourse, Newbury.

Details on the 2015 competition and awards can be found in the 2015 rulebook

The task involved moving 20 cm³ cubes from their start positions into slots in the centre on the arena. Points were awarded for occupying slots. Another main factor was that the tokens could be flipped 180 degrees in order to score extra points.

The competition was held on 26–27 April 2014 at The Racecourse, Newbury.

Details on the 2014 competition and awards can be found in the 2014 rulebook

The task involved moving large tokens into squares situated on the floor to take ownership of that square. The zone was owned by the team which had the most tokens in it. Points are awarded dependent of how many squares are owned by a team. In each zone there is a "pedestal" which if a robot gets to put their token on, they own that zone no matter on the number of other tokens in the square. Multipliers are awarded for getting zones in a row or column.

The 2013 competition final ended in a three-way tie, so a tie-breaker round was played.

This tie breaker has been said to be the most tense match in Student Robotics history as it was won 3 seconds before the end. The video of this can be found here.

Details on the competition and awards can be found in the 2013 rulebook.

The task involved robots having to collect randomly located tokens from the arena, and depositing it in their zone of the arena. Bonus points were added for any token that was placed into a bucket in that zone.

This was the first year that used the latest vision system: libkoki.

The winners of the 2012 Competition were:[26]

Details on the awards can be found in the 2012 Rulebook

The task was to go around the arena, gaining points for each corner passed. Multipliers were applied to the points gained related to the number of baked bean tins that the robot had picked up en route.

This was the first year that used the latest revision of kit.

The winners of the 2011 Competition were:[27]

Details on the awards can be found in the 2011 Rulebook

The challenge involved picking up small wooden tokens of the correct colour, with points being lost for picking up the wrong colour blocks. In addition, a super token (a rubber duck, from which the game's name was derived) was placed on top of a ramp in the centre of the arena, which was worth enough points alone to swing the match.

In 2009, two game types were specified, both involved collection & placement of coloured play-balls.[28] Teams had a home zone on the floor of the arena, as well as a net suspended above their corner, into which the balls could be placed.

In Golf, teams had to place the balls into their opponents' zones & nets, while in Squirrel the challenge was reversed, with teams aiming to collect the balls.

The first game was not named, and involved teams collecting coloured tokens that were painted wooden cubes.[29]