The positions of the inner square, the fixed obstacles and the movable object are not revealed before the run, and no prior map is permitted. The grid map alone carries 60 of the 100 points.
Rules in brief
A SLAM-based challenge: the robot autonomously explores and maps an unknown 3 m × 3 m arena. In its official run it must generate a grid map of the arena cell by cell, identify the movable object and push it into the target green spot, and take a full round of the arena, finishing as close as possible to the starting position.
Each team receives 2 minutes of preparation and one official run of at most 5 minutes. The run begins when the team starts the robot with its physical start switch and the event official confirms it.
The robot must operate fully autonomously: no manual driving, no movement commands and no directing the robot through the arena. A team may physically intervene to correct a failure, up to 5 touches per run, but never to navigate or reposition the robot. A sixth touch disqualifies the run.
The movable object, a 20 cm blue cube, may only be pushed. Lifting or grabbing it is not allowed.
After the run, the team shows the grid map on the organisers’ HDMI monitor within 2 minutes, using its own cables and adapters. The map must be the one generated during the run, not edited, regenerated or reprocessed, and is checked cell by cell against the organisers’ reference map.
All computation, including SLAM, localisation, mapping and navigation, must run onboard the robot. Wi-Fi or Bluetooth may only send non-control information, such as the map, to the team’s own laptop. Any type of LIDAR is prohibited.
Each team submits a link to one repository holding the source code of everything that runs on its robot, with a README at the top level, by the announced deadline. Each team member must be able to explain the code entirely.
Phones are not permitted at all. No internet access is provided, and a team caught using the internet or a hotspot is disqualified at once.
The arena, the line track and the bin positions never change. Only the colours of the 8 objects change, one layout per round drawn by lot, and a red object, once lifted, has 45 seconds to reach the red bin.
Rules in brief
The robot scans the 8 objects in the pickup area, identifies the colour of each one, and sorts each into the bin of the same colour. It carries each object along the line track to its bin, then returns to the parking zone and parks.
Hazardous (red) objects are treated as radioactive. Once lifted, a red object must be placed in the red bin within 45 seconds. A red object that is not in the red bin when its window closes scores zero and costs 3 points. Blue and green objects are ordinary objects.
Each round has one colour layout for the 8 positions, drawn by lot by the Event Head, the same for every team and not shown before the run. A layout may include all 8 of one colour or none of a colour. The 2 m × 2 m arena, every position, the line track and the bins never change.
Objects must be carried and placed, never pushed across the floor: a pushed object, or one the robot removes from a bin, scores zero. An object is placed when it lies fully within a bin with no part protruding above the rim, as recorded by the judge panel. A bin marshal empties each bin as soon as a placement is recorded, so a bin can take more than one object, and an emptied object keeps its points.
The robot must be completely autonomous, with all processing on board and wired connections only: no Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or other radio of any kind. It is started and stopped by a single START/STOP button. Once the run has started, no team member may touch the robot, an object or a bin; human intervention ends the run.
Each robot has one full inspection, with its design and build score, at a scheduled robot inspection session (7 December 17:15–18:45, 8 December 08:00–08:30 or 10:00–10:30). Before every run there is a short pre-run check beside the arena of at most 3 minutes.
Each team gets a 60-second calibration window, then a run of up to 300 seconds. No retries are permitted.
Two qualification rounds; a team’s qualification score is the higher of its two runs. The 4 highest-scoring teams go through to a single final run, and the highest total in that run wins. Teams outside the final are placed 5th and below by qualification score.
Stage Three is revealed only once qualification has ended. It requires no hardware change to the robot, but reprogramming between runs is permitted with your own laptop. Build for adaptability.
Rules in brief
A driver-controlled event: each team operates one tele-operated robot across a 4 m × 4 m, quadrant-divided arena, by direct line of sight from one handheld controller. There is no autonomous phase, and onboard cameras and video links are prohibited.
Stage One: retrieve the four plants from their quadrants and deposit each into the pot of the matching colour.
Stage Two: collect the five monument pieces, carry them up a ramp onto the central platform, and assemble them in the prescribed configuration, which is issued in writing to every team before qualification. Full marks require the exact arrangement. Stages One and Two may be done in any order within a run.
Each run starts from the starting zone after a 60-second setup window and ends when the driver declares completion, when 300 seconds expire, or when the team retires. No one may touch the robot or any arena component by hand after the start signal.
Every team receives two qualification runs, and its single best run counts. The four highest-ranked teams advance to the semi-finals, paired first against fourth and second against third.
In the semi-finals and final, each team completes a run and then Stage Three, which is disclosed only once qualification has ended. It requires no hardware change to the robot. Reprogramming is permitted between runs on the team’s own laptop.
Destructive mechanisms are prohibited, as are projectiles, entangling devices, and vacuum, fans, magnets or anything else generating artificial downforce.
Every match lasts two minutes and is driven by hand. Points come from the time the opponent spends in the red band at the rim, so position matters more than a single big push.
Rules in brief
Two robots face each other in a circular ring. The objective is to force the opponent into the red scoring band at the rim, or out of the ring, while staying clear of it yourself.
Robots start at opposite ends of the ring, 5 cm from the boundary, on the referee’s signal. Each match lasts two minutes, and robots are driven by remote control throughout.
A red band around the rim is the scoring zone. The longer a robot stays in it, the more points its opponent earns: 1 point for one second, rising to 5 points for seven seconds.
Destructive designs are prohibited: no blades, flame, liquids or projectiles, as are mechanisms generating artificial downforce, such as vacuum suction or sticky tyres. This is a pushing contest, not a combat one.
The event opens with group stages, with the four highest-scoring participants progressing to the semi-finals and final.
Participants are combined with students from other schools into cross-school Companies. Each Company appoints a CEO, CTO and CMO by chit-picking after the Opening Ceremony, and only then are the Problem Statements released.
Rules in brief
The Hackathon tests a team’s ability to carry a conceptual challenge through to a market-oriented solution: a functional prototype, sound business and marketing thinking, and the ability to communicate and defend the result under questioning. It runs as a single continuous stage, with no elimination rounds unless the Organising Committee announces otherwise.
Each school nominates three students. They do not necessarily compete together as a school team: they are combined with students from other schools to form cross-school Companies. The number of Companies, schools per Company and members per Company are set by the Organising Committee on final participation strength. For example, if 15 schools take part, five Companies of three schools each may be formed, giving approximately 15 members per Company. Allocation cannot be requested or altered.
After the Opening Ceremony and Company formation, and before the Problem Statements are released, each Company appoints a Chief Executive Officer, a Chief Technology Officer and a Chief Marketing Officer through the prescribed chit-picking process. Judges may question any Company Member, whatever their role.
Companies then receive a set of Problem Statements organised under multiple Sustainable Development Goals, and each selects one. The Problem Statements are confidential until their official release.
The Development Period runs from the release of the Problem Statements to the submission deadline set by the Organising Committee. Every Company must produce three interconnected outputs: a Functional Prototype (hardware, software or a combination), a Business/Financial Strategy, and a Marketing Strategy. Concept art, static slides, wireframes or mock-ups alone are not a functioning prototype, and any simulated functionality must be disclosed.
The solution must be substantially developed by the Company during the Development Period. Pre-built solutions, outside development assistance and outsourcing of any technical, marketing or financial work are not permitted.
AI tools are permitted. Each Company must disclose the AI tools used, the purpose of each, and the significant components that were AI-assisted, and every Company Member must be able to explain the final output, including AI-assisted components.
Participants bring their own laptops; internet access is provided by the host school. Mobile phones and personal hotspots are prohibited during the competition unless the Organising Committee permits them for a specific purpose, and any group chat used within or between Companies must include a member of the Organising Team.
The event concludes with a 15-minute Corporate Pitch to the Judging Panel, in which all Company Members should take part, followed by a Question-and-Answer session whose duration will be specified before the event.
The preliminary round is written on individual devices against a timer. The final is played on stage, and the Quizmaster sets the sequence.
Rules in brief
A team-based competition testing knowledge of technology, computers, and the evolving world of Information Technology.
Preliminary round: conducted in a designated room using individual digital devices. Teams answer a series of Multiple Choice Questions before the timer expires. Top-scoring teams advance.
Final round: finalists compete live on stage guided by the Quizmaster, featuring General IT Knowledge, Rapid Fire, Visual Identification, Audio/Video-Based Questions, a Buzzer Round, and Surprise or Special Rounds.
Decisions made by the Quizmaster and judging panel are final.
Both questions are compulsory. The first 15 minutes are for flowcharts, rough sketches and planning only. Functional correctness carries 60 of the 100 marks, but optimisation counts too.
Rules in brief
Design, implement and optimise highly efficient algorithms that solve simple or complex logical problems under strict resource constraints. One participant per school, open to students in any grade; no prior competitive history is required, and no substitutions are permitted.
Setup (5 minutes): log in to the portal, test the IDE configuration, check the keyboard layout, and run a sample “Hello World” to verify the compiler. Once compilers are verified, the questions are released and the time starts.
A single round of two compulsory questions. Participants have 15 minutes only to make flowcharts, rough sketches or plan out their code, then a further 1 hour 15 minutes to write, test and modify it.
Exactly one of Java, Python, C or C++ may be used. All built-in libraries are permitted, and matplotlib, pandas, numpy and scipy are allowed in Python. Computers are provided with Python IDLE, BlueJ, Code::Blocks and Dev-C++; other libraries, external environments, code editors and pre-written code snippets are prohibited.
No AI tools are permitted, and search engines, including Google, may not be used once the round starts. Hotspot-capable devices are deposited before the competition, and no device of any kind may be used after the round begins.
During a live run, interaction is limited to entering inputs and viewing outputs in the console; the code and environment may not be modified while it executes. A run ends when the code stops on its own or the participant declares voluntary retirement. Retries after non-logical errors are at the judges’ discretion, with no alteration of code.
Any attempt to use search engines, AI platforms or the internet improperly, and any plagiarism, collusion or malicious submission, results in immediate disqualification. Appeals are lodged in writing by the registered participant within 15 minutes of the ruling or score.
