Student Robotics

The competition is designed, organised and managed by a team of volunteers ("Blueshirts"). Most volunteers have previously competed in an annual competition and many have gone on to study robotics, computer science or engineering at university. The competition takes place over a weekend in April/May. There are a series of league matches, spread over two half days, where each team competes against 3 other robots, to score points. On the afternoon of the second day, the points from the league table determine the rounds for the knockout stage, which eventually determines the winners of the competition.

Teams are introduced to the competition, and provided with their kit, at a "KickStart" event at the beginning of the academic year in October. Kickstart involves briefings on the competition challenge, and its rules, by Student Robotics volunteers. There is also a mini-game to introduce the teams to the kit. During the competition cycle, "Tech Days" held at various locations where teams are encouraged to work on their robot under the supervision of Student Robotics' Volunteers.

Historically the competition has been hosted on the Highfield Campus of the University of Southampton, however the 2014 and 2015 competitions were held at Newbury Racecourse Grandstand. Kickstart is also held on the Highfield Campus of the University of Southampton, but for the 2014 competition there were Kickstarts at the University of Bristol and Gresham's School, and for the 2015 competition there were Kickstarts at the University of Bristol, Facebook's office in London, and Technische Universität München. In 2017, two Kickstart events were held, at the University of Southampton and at the offices of Thread in London.

The competition rules mandate that the robots are autonomous, rather than remote controlled. The competitors may program their robot in Python via an IDE provided by Student Robotics. Student Robotics does not ban, nor support other methods than the IDE for programming their robots.

The competition is free to enter although schools have to make their own travel arrangements and provide the materials to build a chassis and fashion their robot. In some years a small budget has been given to schools.{{Cite web|url=https://www.studentrobotics.org/schools/support#Budget|title=Information on Teams Budgets}}

Another group of volunteers (the Kit Team) develops and maintains a modular "robotics kit" that is provided to every team.{{Cite web|url=https://www.studentrobotics.org/schools/kit/|title=Student Robotics "kit" page}} The current revision of the kit uses a Raspberry Pi 4 as its central controller; previously both an Odroid U3 (2015 - 2022) and BeagleBoard have been used. Most competitors use the Python programming language and teams are given access to a software library to ease interaction with the kit. However, it is not a requirement that they use Python or the library.

The main contents of the kit are:{{Cite web |title=Kit {{!}} Student Robotics |url=https://studentrobotics.org/docs/kit/ |access-date=2022-11-23 |website=studentrobotics.org}}

• A Power Board (Central control and power distribution)
• Raspberry Pi 4 2GB with a KCH HAT{{Cite web |title=SR2023 Kit Revision |url=https://studentrobotics.org/blog/2022-11-03-sr2023-kit-revision/ |access-date=2022-11-23 |website=Student Robotics |language=en-GB}}
• Two Motor Boards (Boards for controlling brushed DC motors)
• A Ruggeduino Board (General purpose digital I/O and analogue input)
• A Servo Board (Board for controlling up to twelve servos)
• A USB Webcam
• Two 11.1V 2200mAh Lithium Polymer batteries

The software library includes a vision system based on OpenCV, although previously a system called libkoki was specifically developed for the competition. This allows for markers, placed in the arena, on other robots and on game objects/obstacles, to be seen by the robot. These provide information such as distance, position and rotation.{{Cite web|url=https://studentrobotics.org/docs/programming/sr/vision/|title=Vision | Student Robotics|website=studentrobotics.org}}

As the competition is free to enter, Student Robotics requires that the kit is returned post-competition.{{Cite web|url=https://www.studentrobotics.org/resources/2013/rulebook.pdf|title=2013 Student Robotics Rulebook}}

The competition that was held at the University of Southampton on 12 and 13 April 2025.{{Cite web |title=Competition |url=https://studentrobotics.org/events/sr2025/competition/ |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=Student Robotics |date=22 April 2025 |language=en-GB}}

Details on the 2025 competition and awards can be found in the [https://studentrobotics.org/docs/rules/archive#2025 2025 rulebook] and [https://studentrobotics.org/docs/resources/2025/challenges.html 2025 challenges document]

The competition that was held at the University of Southampton on 13 and 14 April 2024.{{Cite web |title=Competition |url=https://studentrobotics.org/events/sr2024/competition/ |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=Student Robotics |date=15 April 2025 |language=en-GB}}

Details on the 2024 competition and awards can be found in the [https://studentrobotics.org/docs/rules/archive#2024 2024 rulebook]

The competition that was held at the University of Southampton on 1 and 2 April 2023.{{Cite web |title=Competition |url=https://studentrobotics.org/events/sr2023/competition/ |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=Student Robotics |date=15 April 2025 |language=en-GB}}

Details on the 2023 competition and awards can be found in the [https://studentrobotics.org/docs/rules/archive#2023 2023 rulebook]

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.

File:Student Robotics 2022 Arena.jpg

23 teams attended the competition that was held at the University of Southampton on 23 and 24 April 2022.{{Cite web |title=Competition |url=https://studentrobotics.org/events/sr2022/competition/ |access-date=2022-04-28 |website=Student Robotics |date=23 April 2022 |language=en-GB}} 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.{{Citation|last=Jad|first=Islah|title=Claiming Feminism, Claiming Nationalism: Women's Activism in the Occupied Territories|date=2018-02-02|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780429492921-10|work=The Challenge Of Local Feminisms|pages=226–248|publisher=Routledge|doi=10.4324/9780429492921-10 |isbn=978-0-429-49292-1|access-date=2021-05-01}}

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.{{Cite web|title=The SR2021 Final League Session comes to a close {{!}} Student Robotics|url=https://studentrobotics.org/news/2021-04-24-sr2021-final-league-session/|access-date=2021-05-01|website=studentrobotics.org}}

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.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Student Robotics Rulebook 2020|url=https://studentrobotics.org/docs/rules/archive#2020|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-07-18|website=Student Robotics}}

The competition was due to be held at Reading University Students Union on 18 and 19 April,{{Cite web|title=SR2020 Competition Dates Announcement {{!}} Student Robotics|url=https://studentrobotics.org/news/2019-12-17-sr2020-competition-dates-announcement/|access-date=2020-07-18|website=studentrobotics.org}} but was delayed,{{Cite web|title=Student Robotics 2020 Competition Postponed {{!}} Student Robotics|url=https://studentrobotics.org/news/2020-03-16-sr2020-competition-postponed/|access-date=2020-07-18|website=studentrobotics.org}} and then eventually cancelled{{Cite web|title=Transitioning to a Virtual Competition {{!}} Student Robotics|url=https://studentrobotics.org/news/2020-05-22-virtual-competition-transition/|access-date=2020-07-18|website=studentrobotics.org}} due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

File:Student Robotics 2020 Livestream.pngA virtual competition was held 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. 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.{{Cite web|url=https://studentrobotics.org/docs/rules/archive#2019|title=Student Robotics Rulebook 2019|website=Student Robotics|access-date=2019-01-26}}

37 teams attended the competition that was held at the University of Southampton on 6 and 7 April 2019.{{cite web | url=https://studentrobotics.org/news/2019-04-09-sr2019-tlc-crowned-champion/ | title=The Ladies' College, Guernsey Wins Student Robotics 2019 | publisher=Student Robotics | date=9 April 2019 | accessdate=13 June 2019}}

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.{{Cite web|url=https://studentrobotics.org/news/2018-09-27-sr2019-announced/|title=Student Robotics returns for SR2019 {{!}} Student Robotics|website=studentrobotics.org|access-date=2019-01-27}}

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.{{Cite web|url=https://sourcebots.co.uk/events/2018/competition/|title=Competition 2018|date=2018-04-21|website=sourcebots.co.uk|language=en-gb|access-date=2019-01-26}}
• Hills Road Robocon - A twelve team competition was held at Hills Road Sixth Form College.{{Cite web|url=https://hr-robocon.org/about/last-year.html|title=Last Year {{!}} RoboCon|website=hr-robocon.org|access-date=2019-01-26}}

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.

Details on the 2017 competition and awards can be found in the [https://studentrobotics.org/docs/rules/archive#2017 2017 rulebook]

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.

Details on the 2016 competition and awards can be found in the [https://studentrobotics.org/docs/rules/archive#2016 2016 rulebook]

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 https://studentrobotics.org/docs/rules/archive#2015 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 [https://www.studentrobotics.org/docs/resources/2014/rulebook.pdf 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 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHsveBZvQL8 here.]

Details on the competition and awards can be found in the [https://studentrobotics.org/docs/resources/2013/rulebook.pdf 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:{{Cite web|url=https://www.studentrobotics.org/news/2012-04-16_sr2012_comp_happened|title=Student Robotics news article on 2012 competition}}

Details on the awards can be found in the [https://studentrobotics.org/docs/resources/2012/rulebook.pdf 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:{{Cite web|url=https://www.studentrobotics.org/news/2011-05-04_sr2011_comp_happened|title=Student Robotics news article on 2011 competition}}

Details on the awards can be found in the [https://studentrobotics.org/docs/resources/2011/rulebook.pdf 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.studentrobotics.org/svn/!svn/bc/2551/competition/rules/game-rules.tex|title=Game Rules for SR 2009}}

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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.studentrobotics.org/svn/!svn/bc/841/competition/rules/game-rules.tex|title=Game Rules for SR 2008}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.studentrobotics.org Student Robotics Home Page]

Category:Computer science education in the United Kingdom

Category:Engineering education in the United Kingdom

Category:Poole

Category:Recurring events established in 2006

Category:Robotics in the United Kingdom

Category:Robotics organizations

Category:2006 establishments in the United Kingdom

Category:Science and technology in Dorset

Category:Science and technology in Hampshire

Category:Student robotics competitions

Category:University of Southampton

Category:Youth science