Robot competition
A robot competition is an event where the abilities and characteristics of robots may be tested and assessed. Usually they have to beat other robots in order to become the best one. Many competitions are for schools but several competitions with professional and hobbyist participants are also arising.
History
Robotic competitions have been organized since the 1970s and 1980s. In 1979 a Micromouse competition was organized by the IEEE as shown in the Spectrum magazine.Although it is difficult to pinpoint the first robotic competition in history two events are well known nowadays for their longevity: the All Japan Sumo from Japan, and the Trinity College International Fire fighting Robot Contest.
Other competitions have grown in popularity with the pass of time, being the Robocup and the Robo One two of the main singular events in current times. In parallel companies like Lego and VEX have developed their own branded events and called them leagues, although they function more like individual cups in regional qualifiers with finals.
There is some controversy whether university specific challenges should be considered competitions or more workshops, in general the trend is to open competitions to the public in order to prevent nepotism and improve the quality of the robots competing at the event.
Some organizations have been trying to standardize robotics competition through the introduction of full-fledged leagues with a standard calendar, but the model has been only working in specific countries like Spain where the National League was founded in 2008 and is still functioning.
Criteria to classify robot competitions
There are many criteria that can be used to classify robot competitions which makes it hard to establish a standard way of referring to them:- Popularity with public or competitors
- Indoors versus Outdoors
- Branded materials versus Open materials
- Minors / students versus Professionals / clubs
- Itinerant versus Fixed-location
- Nature of movement: humanoid, wheeled, aerial, aquatic, underwater,...
Competitions
Major competitions and organizations
All these competitions are indoors, itinerant in their location and showcase different categories. The competitions in this listing have a yearly recurrent major impact in their locations with a huge national impact or an international significant reach. Map in reference| Competition | Branded | Students / Pros | Founded | Short description |
| FIRST | Yes | Students | 1992 | US-based international organization |
| BEST Robotics | No | Students | 1993 | American student competition |
| FIRA | No | Both | 1997 | Asian organization competing with Robocup |
| Robocup | No | Both | 1997 | Organization similar to FIRA but with more expansion |
| Battlebots | No | Pros | 2000 | American TV Program |
| ABU Robocon | No | Students | 2002 | Asian organization similar to FIRST |
| Robo One | No | Both | 2002 | Asian humanoid reference event |
| RoboGames | No | Both | 2004 | American well known competition |
| World Robot Olympiad | Yes | Students | 2004 | Similar to Lego and Vex with less branding |
| RoboParty | Yes | Students | 2007 | Educational event, with 3 challenges |
| VEX Robotics Competition | Yes | Students | 2007 | International robotics competition in multiple grade levels. |
| RoboMaster | Yes | Students | 2015 | China-based international team shooting competition |
| MakeX | Yes | Students | 2017 | China-based international robotics competition in multiple grade levels |
Historically relevant competitions
These competitions had an important impact on the evolution of technology, public awareness or other robotic competitions in the world.| Competition | In / Out | Branded / Open | Students / Pros | Location | Movement | Short description | Year first run | Still active |
| IEEE Micromouse competition | Indoors | Open | Both | Itinerant | Wheeled | Mouse labyrinth navigation done in several locations: APEC, Taiwan and Japan | 1979 | Yes |
| All Japan Robot Sumo | Indoors | Open | Both | Fixed | Wheeled | Japanese historic sumo event | 1990 | Yes |
| International Aerial Robotics Competition | Both | Open | University only | 2 Venues | Aerial | Fully autonomous aerial robots; multi-year missions; 2 simultaneous venues | 1991 | Yes |
| AUVSI Foundation's Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition | Outdoors | Open | Students | Fixed | Wheeled | Students customize autonomous buggies at Oakland University | 1993 | Yes |
| Trinity Fire Fighting Robot Competition | Indoors | Open | Both | Fixed | Wheeled | Fire fighting historical event at Trinity College | 1994 | Yes |
| RoboCup | Indoors | Open | Both | Itinerant | Wheeled/Legged | Several league | 1997 | Yes |
| RoboSub and Roboboat | Outdoors | Open | Both | Fixed | Underwater | AUVs innovation in San Diego | 1997 | Yes |
| Eurobot | Indoors | Open | Students | Itinerant | Wheeled | Changing normative student event originated in France | 1998 | Yes |
| Centennial Challenges | Outdoors | Open | Pros | Itinerant | Several | NASA's contests for non-government achievements | 2003 | No |
| European Land-Robot Trial | Outdoors | Open | Pros | Itinerant | Wheeled | Military R&D in Europe | 2006 | Yes |
| RoboParty | Indoors | Branded | Student | Fixed | Wheeled | Educational event held in Portugal, teaches hands-on how to build a robot | 2007 | Yes |
| UAV Outback Challenge | Outdoors | Open | Both | Fixed | Aerial | UAVs innovation in Australia | 2007 | Yes |
| DARPA Grand Challenge | Outdoors | Open | Pros | Fixed | Wheeled | Autonomous street cars in the USA | 2014 | No |
| Roborace | Outdoors | Branded | Pros | Itinerant | Wheeled | Autonomous Formula E cars | TBD | ? |
| World Robotics League | Both | Open | Both | Itinerant | Land, Air, Water | Competition based purely on merit. Autonomous and Remote control with elements of dynamic environment | 2014 | Yes |
Local active competitions with Wikipedia pages
Location for these competitions is fixed, usually linked to a venue or institution.| Competition | In / Out | Branded / Open | Students / Pros | Movement | Short description | Last edition |
| National Engineering Robotics Contest | Indoors | Open | Students | Several | A student competition at NUST | Active |
| Pioneers in Engineering | Indoors | Open | Students | Wheeled | Student competition | Active |
| Botball | Indoors | Open | Students | Wheeled | Student competition | Active |
| Student Robotics | Indoors | Open | Students | Several | Student competition at the University of Southampton | Active |
| DEF CON | Indoors | Open | Students | Several | Hacker event with a competition | Active |
Unsourced or discontinued minor competitions
The following events appear to be inactive or have no reference that show them to be active.OFF Road Robotics Competition
The competition is organized by the Robot Association of Finland.The goal is to build a robot which is able to move without human help off-road. The competition is held annually at the mid-summer Jämi Fly In air show in Finland. The competition track is randomly selected 10 minutes before competition by the judge, marked with four wooden sticks to make a 200-meter track. The track consists of sand roads and fields containing bushes and rocks. The robots must run outside the sticks from start to finish without human assistance as fast as possible. YouTube movies and pictures from the 2007 and 2008 competitions are available.
International Autonomous Robot Racing Challenge (IARRC)
Student teams from around the world compete in an outdoor racing competition, where small-scale robots race against other robots to the finish line, without any human guidance or control. Their skills are put to test in a static judging event, a drag race and a circuit race event, where the vehicles navigate around obstacles and obey the traffic rules. These robots are finding their way in applications such as space exploration, mining, search and rescue, remote sensing and automotive inspection.Robot Racing is an effort to promote research in autonomous mobile robotics technology. The competition provides students with engineering design challenges, including components of mechanical, computer, control software, and system integration. Students work together to design and build robotic vehicles that can navigate twisting, obstacle-filled courses without any human guidance or control.