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Introduction
On 26 December 2022, at a competition organised by the Georgian Robotics Association team, 75 teams of grade 9–12 pupils raced mBot and 4WD Smart Robot Car robots along a straight line, a zigzag and a labyrinth. This is where our school robotics competitions began.
How it started
On 26 December 2022 the Georgian Robotics Association (GRA) team organised the first school robotics competition for grade 9–12 pupils of Georgia's public and private schools. 75 school teams took part.
It was our first school competition — the starting point of the association's school robotics track, which is an annual championship today.
Two robots, three tracks
The competition had two categories — mBot and 4WD Smart Robot Car robots — and three tracks:
- Straight line — the robot that reached the finish line first won;
- Zigzag — the robot had to follow a black zigzag line without skipping any segment; the fastest won;
- Labyrinth — the robot had to get from the start to the exit; the team whose robot covered it in the shortest time won.
These are exactly the tasks that teach the basics of robotics best: sensors, line following and simple autonomous control.
Winners and prizes
By the jury's decision, summing up all three tracks, one winner was named in each category:
- 4WD Smart Robot Car — the team "Lighting McQueen" of Mose Khoneli Public School No. 1, Khoni;
- mBot — the team "Lokokina" ("Snail") of Zhiuli Shartava Public School No. 4, Rustavi.
The winning teams received a 250 GEL voucher and every registered participant a 25% discount voucher. Members of the winning teams also received courses: graphic design, 3D modelling, Python, drones and electronics.
What came next
Rustavi School No. 4's "Lokokina" made the top three again at the 2024 Robo Festival, and the school competition has become a tradition. See the current rules on the School Robotics Competition page, and every GRA championship year by year in our history.
Partners
The Georgian Robotics Association team held the competition together with its partners:
- Ilia State University's Center for Technological Entrepreneurship and Innovation Development;
- the U.S. Embassy in Georgia — the programme was funded by the Embassy's 2021 Democracy Commission small grants programme;
- EPAM Georgia;
- LOPUS-ELECTRONICS — vouchers for the winners and the participants.
Thank you to every school, teacher and pupil who took part in this first competition!
