Student Robotics


Student Robotics is a registered charity that runs an annual robotics competition for teams of 16 to 19 year-olds. The charity aims to foster a world where engineering and artificial intelligence is accessible to young people with a stated mission "to bring the excitement of engineering and the challenge of coding to young people through robotics". The competition is free to enter and teams are provided with all of the core electronics that they need to build a robot. To encourage creative and ingenious solutions to problems, constraints on design are kept to a minimum, and the students can build and fashion their robots with any materials they choose; this results in a wide range of quirky, original robots. The robots must operate autonomously; once they are switched on to compete no interference from the team is allowed.
The organisation was founded at the University of Southampton in 2006 by Robert Gilton and Stephen English. Students at the University of Bristol and Grenoble INP joined the project in 2010. In 2016 the organisation became a registered charity.

Student Robotics competition

The competition is designed, organised and managed by a team of volunteers. 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.

Robotics kit

Another group of volunteers develops and maintains a modular "robotics kit" that is provided to every team. The current revision of the kit uses an Odroid U3 as its central controller; previously a BeagleBoard was 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:
The software library includes a vision system based on libkoki. 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.
As the competition is free to enter, Student Robotics requires that the kit is returned post-competition.

Competitions

2020: "Two Colours"

This task involved gathering cardboard boxes 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.
The competition was due to be held at Reading University Students Union on 18th and 19th April, but was delayed, and then eventually cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A 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.
Team
First PlaceJAMDynamics
Second PlaceKenilworth Sixth Form
Third PlaceLawrence Sheriff School
Rookie AwardKenilworth Sixth Form
Committee AwardSouth Wilts Grammar School
Online Presence - Gymnasium Markt Indersdorf, Germany

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.

2019: "Caldera"

This task involved moving cardboard boxes 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.
37 teams attended the competition that was held at the University of Southampton on 6 and 7 April 2019.
Team
First PlaceThe Ladies' College Guernsey
Second PlaceHills Road Sixth Form College
Third PlaceHampton School and Lady Eleanor Holles School
Rookie AwardEltham College
Committee AwardSouth Wilts Grammar School
Robot and Team ImageHaberdashers' Aske's Boys' School
Online PresenceThe College of Richard Collyer

2018: No Competition Held

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.
Two alternate competitions were held with very similar characteristics, and involved many of the original volunteers.
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.
PrizeTeam
First PlaceCATS College Cambridge
Second PlaceHills Road Sixth Form College
Third PlaceThe College of Richard Collyer
Rookie AwardDr Challoner's Grammar School
Committee AwardLawrence Sheriff School
Robot and Team ImageHills Road Sixth Form College
Online Presence - Gymnasium Markt Indersdorf, Germany

2016: "Sunny side Up"

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.
PrizeTeam
First PlaceRoyal Grammar School, Guildford
Second PlaceThe Ladies' College
Third PlaceGordano School
Rookie AwardThe Ladies' College
Committee AwardTunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys
Robot and Team Image - Gymnasium Markt Indersdorf, Germany
Online PresenceQueen Mary's College

2015: "Capture the Flag"

The task involved "capturing" small wooden cubes 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.
PrizeTeam
First PlaceBishop Wordsworth's School
Second PlaceGordano School
Third PlaceKing Edward VI Grammar School
Rookie AwardKing Edward VI Grammar School
Committee AwardCranbrook School
Robot and Team Image - Gymnasium Markt Indersdorf, Germany
Online PresencePeter Symonds College
First Robot MovementCATS College Cambridge

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

2014: "Slots"

The task involved moving 20 cm3 cubes from their start positions into slots in the centre on the arena. Points where 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.
PrizeTeam
First PlaceHeadington School, Oxford
Second PlaceGordano School
Third PlaceClifton High School, Runshaw College
Rookie AwardTorquay Boys Grammar School
Committee Award - Gymnasium Markt Indersdorf, Germany
Robot and Team ImageHills Road Sixth Form College
Online PresencePeter Symonds College
First Robot MovementTorquay Boys Grammar School

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

2013: "A Strange game"

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
PrizeTeam
First Place - Gymnasium Markt Indersdorf, Germany
Second Place - Clifton High School
Third PlaceQueen Mary's College
Rookie AwardHeadington School, Oxford
Committee Award
Robot and Team Image - Peter Symonds College, Winchester
Online Presence
First Robot MovementHeadington School, Oxford

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

2012: "Pirate plunder"

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:
PrizeTeam
First Place - Peter Symmond's College, Winchester
Second Place - Hills Road Sixth Form College, Cambridge
Third PlaceBrockenhurst College, Brockenhurst
Committee AwardQueen Mary's College, Basingstoke
Outstanding Team - Peter Symmond's College, Winchester
Online Presence - Mirfield Free Grammar, Huddersfield
First Robot Movement"MFG Robotics" - Mirfield Free Grammar, Huddersfield

Details on the awards can be found in the

2011: "Tin can rally"

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:
PrizeTeam
First PlaceTaunton's College, Southampton
Second PlacePeter Symmond's College, Winchester
Third PlaceMirfield Free Grammar, Huddersfield
Chairmans AwardMirfield Free Grammar, Huddersfield
Online Presence - Churcher's College, Petersfield
First Robot MovementQueen Elizabeth's Hospital School, Bristol

Details on the awards can be found in the

2010: "QuacMan"

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 was placed on top of a ramp in the centre of the arena, which was worth enough points alone to swing the match.

2009: "Golf" and "Squirrel"

In 2009, two game types were specified, both involved collection & placement of coloured play-balls.
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.

2008

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