World Robot Olympiad

The World Robot Olympiad (WRO) is an annual global robotics competition designed to bring together young people from different countries and help them develop their problem solving skills and creativity. The inaugural event was held in 2004 in Singapore. Since then, the competition has been held annually. The host country and city change every year.

The World Robot Olympiad was formally established in 2003. Its founding countries are China, Singapore, Japan and South Korea. The first international final of the competition featured teams from China, Hong Kong, the Republic of China (Taiwan), Indonesia, India, Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Malaysia, Russia, Thailand, and Singapore. As you can see, the first WRO was dominated by Asian countries. To be eligible for the competition, a team must participate in the qualifying competition in its home country. Such competitions are hosted by WRO’s partners. The Olympiad attracts over 20,000 teams from nearly 60 countries, from Armenia to the United Arab Emirates.

The competition is divided into four categories: Regular Category, Open Category, Advanced Robotics Challenge, and WRO Football. The Regular and Open Categories have three age groups: elementary school age, middle school age, and high school age. Note that every country has its own secondary education system with its own age gradations, but WRO has strict age group definitions:

• Primary (Elementary) School Age: maximum 12 years old;
• Middle (Junior High) School Age: 13–15 years old;
• Secondary (High) School Age: 10–19 years old.

The Advanced Robotics Challenge is designed for college and university students who are 17–25 years old.

In the Regular Category challenge, students are required to create a robot which can complete a particular task specified by the organizer (for example, to collect ping pong balls or to climb stairs). In the Open Category, teams create robots related to a designated theme. The judges evaluate presentation, functionality and relevance to the theme. In the Advanced Robotics Challenge, college and university students compete in creating robots using the TETRIX and Matric robotics building systems. Finally, WRO Football is a soccer competition for robots. Teams create soccer playing robots with a special infrared sensor, using the LEGO Mindstorms kits.

In 2020 and 2021, the event was held online due to the coronavirus pandemic.