Questions & Answers
At this page we will publish frequently asked and important questions related to the WRO® 2020 games. The answers on this page should be seen as additions to the rules and will be used for the WRO International Final. Be aware that in your country local competitions may follow slightly different rules. Always use the rules provided by your National Organizer.
RoboMission
All age groups
We hard from the issue that a SPIKE robot may take several seconds to start a program. In this situation teams can run the program and then use the left button to start the moving (see rule 9.4 in the general rules). The start with a bluetooth connection is only allowed if no other way of starting the robot is possible (see rule 5.11 in the general rules).
Coaches may have notes but are not allowed to give these to the teams to take into official competition area. Coaches are not allowed to enter the competition area.
Yes, pens and paper are allowed and have been allowed in previous competitions. However, papers should be empty at the beginning and – for example – not contain any building instructions! In addition, only participants and team members are allowed to write on these sheets of paper, no messages passed from coaches to team members are allowed without first being checked and sanctioned by a head judge or judge.
Yes, teams can bring an own measuring tape. However, this measuring tape does not over rule any start areas or the measuring boxes used by the officials at the international final.
The start area is exclusively the white area within the black border. The robot must be completely within the start area (white area) when starting.
Elementary
No Q&A yet
Junior
No Q&A yet
Each crossing is scored once, when your robot transits it completely (from one line to the other). You can only score 15 points once for each crossing.
To get the full 30 points, you have to transit crossing A and crossing B.
Example: You can drive from the starting area 1 over crossing B to the factory and on the way back to the target area 2 over crossing A.
Senior
The photos in our building instructions show the use of the “normal” 1×6 LEGO brick (without holes). But of course, the 1×6 LEGO brick with holes, that is included in the official WRO brick set (LEGO no. 3894) is used to build the laundry container.
A block is considered inside the laundry container if the block touches the field mat inside the laundry container. It can either lie flat or partly holded by the walls as in this picture:
RoboSports
There are different cameras that can be used with LEGO robots. However, it is important that additional cameras and potential processing boards you need for this are only processing the image. It is not allowed that the camera and/or additional processing boards are handling other logic.
We noticed that there were several situations that refer to situations in which violations can happen and the match has ended. We made a new overview that explains what happens in which situation. This overview should be seen as an addition to the games & rules document.
Download Table: RoboSport Violations and End of Matches
If during the Match both teams commit violations at the exact same time, than the final result of that Match is a tie with 0-0. It does not have to be the same violation, e.g. one team touches the the red area on the ramp and at the same time another team removes a ball on their half of the field.
- the team with more Games won from the qualification rounds win;
- if that is a tie also, than the team with less summed up ball count across all their qualification matches win;
- if that is a tie also, than a toss of coin will decide.
The team that leaves its half and enters the opponent’s half and causes the robots to collide is the violating team. If the judge calls out ‘collision’, all robots and the timer must be stopped and the judge makes the decision of which team caused the collision. That team loses the match by 8-0 but can continue the game with the next match.
If two robots touch at any point of the match, the judge decides which one of the two outcomes apply given all circumstances:
- if the robot of one team touches the other team’s robot by accident, then the match is stopped and the number of balls are calculated;
- if the robot of one team touches the other team’s robot on purpose, that is considered a violation, then the match is stopped and the violating team loses the match 8-0.
Yes, there is no problem in using the Passive Raspberry Pi Heat Sink like the ones in the below pictures, but it still has to fit into a 200 x 200 x 200 mm dimensions and cannot have any other role than cooling the camera.
No, it is not allowed to place any extra batteries on the robot apart from that of the controller. If teams are concerned that their camera is consuming too much energy, they can bring extra batteries and replace the robot battery during preparation time.
Yes, if a team wants to add a display, they can do that and it can stay on the robot during the match as well. Important: the display cannot have any other function but to display what the camera sees and it has to fit in the required dimension of 200 x 200 x 200 cm.
When it is robot check every team has to show all the moving parts of their robots. This is when judges will see and check that everything that the robot does during the match will stay inside the dimension restrictions. It is considered a violation if a robot has any moving parts that the team does not show the judges at the robot check and results in a lost match by 8-0.
After market Omni directional wheels are not permitted, and Omni Wheels must be built form Lego elements. (8.10.)
Yes, between two matches teams have 90 seconds to do preparations on their robots.
If the robot overturns and is unable to move, it will be left in the same position until the end of the match. Team can decide to remove the robot from the field with the permission of the judge. Removing both robots from the field results in a lost match with 8-0 result.
If a robot is motionless and don’t leave the starting zones 10 seconds after the start signal, the judge will remove the robot from the field and the robot must stay off the field the full match. If both robots of a team are not moving after 10 seconds the team will lose that match immediately. (Loses the match with 8-0 balls, without any violations)
If a team does not show up 90 seconds after announcement of the judges, it loses that match of the game by 8-0. If the team fails to show up for an additional 90 seconds for the second match, it loses the whole game with all three matches 8-0.
The team will not be allowed to participate in the game and as a consequence loses all three matches of that game 8-0. The winning team achieves the total points of 3 for that game. The incompliant team will not be disqualified entirely from the competition as they have time to correct their robot before the next game.
Future Innovators
At the venue in Dortmund teams can use a maximum of one (1) liters of water/liquids for the presentation of their project.
Please be creative and find other options to present projects that are water-related.
You can show your project with more water on a video for example. And find an alternative for the presentation in your booth.
Future Engineers
The points for 1.4 (no traffic signs moved and knocked etc.) are awarded only in final matches and only if at least one section has been passed by the robot.
Rule 8.23.2 mentions “Note 2: to demonstrate a complete stop in the finish section, the vehicle must not continue driving after 15 seconds.” This is correct. Other parts of the rules (above figure 20) mention 30 sections, that is not correct.
Figure 11 in the rule document shows the position of traffic signs with a section. Cards 5 & 11 and 6 & 12 are the same. This is intentional and will be used this way for WRO International Tournaments.
Please note:
We have updated the scoring table in the Future Engineers General Rules.
The scoring in itself is the same, but it is now more clear which items are only relevant for the final rounds.
Please check the updated General Rules document.
Article 12.16 of the General Rules states that the walls at the international final will be printed on chloroplast.
This is not the case in 2022.
The walls in Germany will be made of a rigid material, most likely wood. They are made following the descriptions in articles 12.3 to 12.8.
