GENERAL RULES
VERSION: JANUARY 15TH

ROBO
SPORTSROBOTS OF TWO TEAMSCOMPETING PLAYINGDOUBLE TENNISAGE GROUPS:
11-19

WRO® 2023
DOUBLE TENNISWRO INTERNATIONAL PREMIUM PARTNER

WRO RoboSports Category – General Rules

Table of Contents
Updates on the general rules from 2022 to 2023 ................................................................................ 2
1.

General information......................................................................................................................... 3

2.

Team and Age Groups definitions ............................................................................................ 4

3.

Responsibilities and team’s own work .................................................................................... 44.

Game documents and rule hierarchy ....................................................................................... 55.

WRO Double Tennis – Game Description & Game Field..................................................... 66.

WRO Double Tennis – Specific Game Rules .......................................................................... 87.

WRO Double Tennis – Scoring ................................................................................................ 13

8.

Robot material & regulations ................................................................................................... 15

9.

Game table and equipment ....................................................................................................... 16

10. Ideas for simplification .............................................................................................................. 18
11. Glossary ........................................................................................................................................ 19
12. Appendix – Table of Decisive Cases ...................................................................................... 20

Updates on the general rules from 2022 to 2023
Important Note:
The WRO season 2022 has been the first year for RoboSports with Double Tennis. During thisseason, we noticed different situations that lead to a change and improvement of the generalrules. There are many little changes were already announced as Q&As in the 2022 season.
Please make sure you read this document carefully before you start with the 2023 season.
In addition, please note that during the season there might be clarifications or additions to therules, which can be found in the official WRO Questions & Answers section of the WRO
website. The answers are supplementary to the rules.
You can find the WRO 2023 Q&A on this page:https://wro-association.org/competition/questions-answers/

IMPORTANT: Use of this document in national tournaments
This rule document is made for all WRO events around the world. It is the basis for the judging
at International WRO events. For the national competitions, a WRO National Organizer has theright to adapt these international rules to suit local circumstances. All teams participating in anational WRO competition should use the General Rules as provided by their National
Organizer.

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WRO RoboSports Category – General Rules

1. General information
Introduction
In the WRO RoboSports category teams design robots that compete with robots of anotherteam.
In a match two teams each have 2 robots on the field. The robots are coded to play the gameautonomously and collaborate with each other where possible. The sport that is played by the
robots changes every 2-3 years.
Focus Areas
Every WRO category and game has a special focus on learning with robots. At the WRO
Double Tennis Game, students will focus on developing in the following areas:-

More advanced coding skills (repeating algorithms for a good game play).
Communication between robots and planning collaborative actions.
Orientation of the robot on the field in an environment with other robots that move.
General engineering skills (building robots that can push/shoot objects of certain sizes)
and advanced kinematics (omni-directional robots).
Strategy and tactics changing depending on the opponent’s robot’s behavior.
Teamwork, communication, problem solving, creativity.

Learning is most important
WRO wants to inspire students around the world into STEM-related subjects and we want thestudents to develop their skills through playful learning in our competitions. This is why thefollowing aspects are key to all our competition programs:v Teachers, parents or other adults can help, guide and inspire the team, but they are notallowed to build or code/program the robot.
v Teams, coaches and judges accept our WRO Guiding Principles and WRO Ethics Codeto ensure a fair and rewarding competition for all.
v On the competition day it is down to the teams, coaches and judges together to delivera fun and fair event.
More information on the WRO Ethics Code can be found here:
https://wro-association.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/WRO-Guiding-Principles-and-EthicsCode-2022.pdf

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WRO RoboSports Category – General Rules

2. Team and Age Groups definitions
2.1.
2.2.
2.3.
2.4.
2.5.
2.6.
2.7.
2.8.
2.9.

A team consists of 2 or 3 students.
A team is guided by a coach.
1 team member and 1 coach are not considered a team and cannot participate.
A team may only participate in one of the WRO categories in a season.
A student may only participate in one team.
The minimum age of a coach at an international event is 18 years old.
Coaches may work with more than one team.
The age group for this category is defined as students aged 11 up to 19 years. (In season
2023: born years 2004-2012)
The maximum age indicated represents the age that the participant turns in the calendar
year of the competition, not his/her age on the competition day.

3. Responsibilities and team’s own work
3.1.

3.2.
3.3.

3.4.

3.5.
3.6.

3.7.
3.8.

A team should play fair and be respectful towards teams, coaches, judges andcompetition organizers. By competing in WRO, teams and coaches accept the WRO
Guiding Principles that can be found at: https://wro-association.org/wpcontent/uploads/2021/08/WRO-Guiding-Principles-and-Ethics-Code-2022.pdf.
Every team and coach need to sign the WRO Ethics Code. The organizer of thecompetition will define how the Ethics Code is collected and signed.
The construction and coding of the robot may be done only by the team. The task of thecoach is to accompany them, help them with organizational and logistical matters andsupport the team in the case of questions or problems. The coach cannot be involved in
the construction and programming of the robot. This applies to both the day of thecompetition and the preparation.
A team is not allowed to communicate in any way with people outside of the competitionarea while the competition is running. If communication is necessary, they should ask thepermission of a judge who may allow team members to communicate with others, undera judge’s supervision.
Team members are not allowed to bring and use mobile (cell) phones or any othercommunication device into the competition area.
Any instructions to the robot to win the match can be provided only in form of the program.
No data are allowed to be entered by interacting a team member/coach/people outside of
the competition with the physical parts, sensors or other electronic components of therobot.
Destruction or tampering with competition courts/tables, materials, or the robots of otherteams is prohibited.
It is not allowed to use a solution (hardware and / or software) that is (a.) the same or too
similar to solutions sold or posted online or (b.) the same or too similar to another solution
at the competition and clearly not the team’s own work. This includes solutions from teams
from the same institution and/or country.

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WRO RoboSports Category – General Rules

3.9.

If there is a suspicion in relation to rule 3.3 and 3.8, the team will be subjected toinvestigation and any of the consequences mentioned in 3.10 can apply. Where
appropriate rule 3.10.2 may be used to prevent the team under investigation fromprogressing to the next competition stage, even if the team would win the competition
stage where the potential rule breaking has been identified.
3.10. If any of the rules mentioned in this document are broken or violated, the judges candecide on one or more of the following consequences. Before a decision is reached, ateam or individual team members may be interviewed to find out more about the possible
violation of the rules. The interview can include questions about the robot or the program.
3.10.1. A team may not be allowed to participate in a game and gets 0 points, the other teamgets 3 points.
3.10.2. A team may be disqualified completely from the competition.

4. Game documents and rule hierarchy
4.1.

Every year, WRO publishes a new version of general rules for this category including thedefinitive description of the WRO Double Tennis Game. These rules are the basis for all
international WRO events.
4.2.
During a season, WRO may publish additional Question & Answers (Q&As) that canclarify, extend or re-define rules in game and general rule documents. Teams should readthese Q&As before the competition.
4.3.
The general rule document and Q&As may be different in a country due to local
adaptations through the National Organizer. Teams need to inform themselves about therules that apply in their country. For any international WRO event, only the information
WRO has published is relevant. Teams that qualified for any international WRO event
should inform themselves about possible differences to their local rules.
4.4.
At the competition day, the following rule hierarchy applies:
4.4.1. General rule document provides the basis for the rules in this category.
4.4.2. Questions & Answers (Q&As) can override rules in game and general rule documents.
4.4.3. The judge on the competition day has the final word in any decision.

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WRO RoboSports Category – General Rules

5. WRO Double Tennis – Game Description & Game Field
Each match of the challenge is for two teams of students. Each team of students prepares two
robots. Both robots operate on the same half of the field and their goal is to collaborate on thecommon task - push all the balls from their half to the other team’s half.
Initially each half of the field contains 4 balls. During the match, balls will be pushed from one
half to another. As well as pushing their own balls, a team’s robots must constantly continue tofind new balls delivered from the other half by the robots of the opposing team. As soon as theseballs from the opposition are found the robots must plan and perform actions to push these ballsback.
A match takes maximum 2 minutes and at the end of the match the winner is the team with theleast number of balls on their half of the game field.
At RoboSports, judges have a more active role as they need to decide on certain situations during
the match as well. This is part of playing sports.
The following graphic shows the game field with the game objects.

Figure 1. Detailed game field.

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WRO RoboSports Category – General Rules

The game field consists of two halves. Each half contains one ramp. A barrier separates eachhalf.

The game field halves

Figure 2. Two halves on the game field.
There are eight positions for the balls on every half: two randomizable positions of a ball on each
black line. Two intersections of the black lines are used as starting positions of the robots.

Balls positions

Robot
start zones

Figure 2. Start positions for the balls and robots

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WRO RoboSports Category – General Rules

6. WRO Double Tennis – Specific Game Rules
WRO Double Tennis Tournament
6.1.
The tournament consists of:
6.1.1. Practice time: During practice time, the contestants may practice in their team area,
may queue with their robots to have one practice game on the game field, or may takemeasurements in the game field in so far as this does not interfere with other teams'
practice. Teams are allowed to make changes to the program or to adjust the robots
mechanically.
6.1.2. Check Time: During check time, the robots will be checked based on the requirements
for robot materials, as mentioned in section 3 above. If a robot does not pass the check,the judges may provide a team up to 3 minutes to address issues found. Only one
three-minute period can be provided by judges for a team as part of the check after
each robot check. If, eventually, one of the team’s robots does not pass the robot checkby the judges, the team will not be allowed to participate in the game and as aconsequence loses all three matches of that game 8-0. The winning team achieves thetotal 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.
6.1.3. Games: A game consist of three matches of the same two teams in a row.
6.2.
A typical competition day may look like this:
6.2.1. Opening Ceremony
6.2.2. 60 minutes practice time (first time slot)
6.2.3. Games, including a check time before each new game. During the game time, teams
can modify the robots or practice on other tables (if available) when they are notcompeting.
6.3.
Each team plays every other team or as many other teams as possible. Pairing of theteams is random. For example, if there are 10 teams, 45 games will be played. Anothertournamentscheme(forexample,theswiss-system
tournament
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss-system_tournament or the double elimination
tournament https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-elimination_tournament) can be used forthe International Final.
6.4.
Teams should prepare and bring all the equipment, software and portable computers theyneed for the tournament.
6.5.
Teams are not allowed to share portable computers and/or the program for the robots on
the competition day.
6.6.
On the day of the competition, there will be a minimum of 60 minutes of practice time
before the start of the first match.
6.7.
Teams cannot touch the designated competition areas before the start of the first practicetime slot is announced.
6.8.
Each team must work during practice time in their specified place until the check time,
when the team’s robots must be placed in a designated area (checking area). No
mechanisms or programs may be modified after this time.
6.9.
Robots may take part in the game only after they have passed the check.
6.10. The team cannot exceed 90 seconds for preparation as soon as they are called by judges
for participating in a particular game. 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
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WRO RoboSports Category – General Rules

6.11.

show up for an additional 90 seconds for the second match, it loses the whole game withall three matches 8-0.
After the end of a particular game, the practice time for two teams continues. Should theywish, they may modify their robots and programs until the judges call for the next game.
After this call the check time for such robots starts again.

Starting Configuration:
6.12.

After check time and before the match starts, the team is ready to start the robot with one
push of a button on the robot. Before this robot start, the location of the balls on the field
is determined. The following procedure can be used for this:
1. Toss a coin to determine the location of the first ball. Heads mean the ball location A(see the figure 3), tails mean the ball location B.
2. Repeat the coin toss three more times for the rest of balls on one half of the field.

A

A

A

A

B

B

B

B

Figure 3. Possible balls’ locations
3. The arrangement of the balls identified on the step 1 and 2 is applied to another halfof the field so one half of the field is a rotational symmetry of the other.

Figure 4. Ball locations on one half are reflected locations of the ball location on
another half•

For example, heads, heads, tails and tails were tossed for the left scheme on the figure
4 whereas tails, tails, heads and tails were tossed for the right scheme.

Matches – Start Configuration:
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WRO RoboSports Category – General Rules

6.13.
6.14.

Every match is maximum two minutes in length.
Each of two team’s robots are located in the starting zones on one half of the field withevery robot on the field being completely within the zones and no part of any robot is
projecting beyond its zone. One starting zone must contain only one robot.

Starting zones
for robots of
one teamStarting zones
for robots ofanother teamFigure 6. Starting zones of the robots
6.15.
6.16.

6.17.

6.18.

6.19.

6.20.

The position of the robot in the starting zone must be so that the projection of the robot
on the game mat is completely within the start zone.
Physical adjustments can be made and team members can choose the one program theywant to run (this is part of the preparation time); however, teams are not allowed to enter
data to a program by changing positions or orientation of the robot’s parts or to make any
sensor calibrations on the robot. Teams may not enter data by changing the configurationof the switches, if any. If a team does enter data through physical adjustments, it will bedisqualified for that game.
The robots should then be in a waiting state. Waiting for a Start button to be pressed. A
separately installed Push Button can be considered as the Start button. Only one Start
button is allowed.
Judges proceed with the randomization and then give the signal to start the robots. The
starting buttons are pressed and the timing for the attempt begins simultaneously, after
which the robots will commence their attempt to win the match.
If a robot is motionless and does not leave the starting zones 10 seconds after the startsignal, 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 10 seconds after the start signal,
the team will lose that match immediately. (Loses the match with 8-0 balls, without any
violations)
If the robot overturns and is unable to move, it will be left in the same position until theend of the match. Team can decide to remove the robot from the field with the permissionof the judge. Removing both robots from the field results in a lost match with 8-0 result.

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WRO RoboSports Category – General Rules

Matches – During the Match:
6.21.
6.22.

6.23.

6.24.
6.25.
6.26.

Robots must be autonomous and it participates in the matches entirely by itself.
The robot is allowed to leave any parts of the robot that are not containing main units(controller, motors, sensors) on the field, if needed. As soon as the part is touching thefield or its game element and is no longer touching the robot it is considered a free element
not part of the robot. If the part prevents balls to be delivered from one half of the game
field to another, the match is stopped and the team with the robot that left the part on thefield loses the match by 8-0. If the part left by one robot moved to the half dedicated foranother team’s robots, the match is stopped and the team with the robot that left the parton the field loses the match by 8-0.
Participants are not allowed to interfere with or assist the robots. This includes entering
data to a program by giving visual, audio or any other signals to the robots during thematch. Team that violates this rule loses the match by 8-0.
The robot is allowed to push, kick and throw balls.
The robot is allowed to drive on to the ramp on its field half.
The robot is not allowed to touch the ramp’s red area on its field half. If any part of therobot touches the red area, the match is stopped and the team with the robot that violated
the rule loses the match by 8-0.

Forbidden areas

Allowed areas
Figure 6. A buffer zone (red area) on the ramp cannot be visited by the robots
6.27.

In case a robot touches one of the opponents’ robots the match is stopped and judges
decide if it was intentional or not. If it was by accident, the number of the balls on eachhalf is calculated to get the score. If it was on purpose, by any team, that team will lose
the match by 8-0.

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WRO RoboSports Category – General Rules

6.28.

A team’s robot is not allowed to touch the surface (mat and the ramp’s slope) on the
opponent’s half of the field. If such situation happens the match is stopped and the teamthat violated the rule will lose the match by 8-0. The robot is allowed to touch the face ofthe ramp which is perpendicular to the main plane of the game field.

Untouchable areas

Touchable areas

Figure 7. Areas that cannot be touched on the opponent’s field half
6.29.

6.30.

The situation when both robots of one team operate simultaneously with more than 4 balls
at the same time is not allowed. The operation with the balls assumes pushing by a robot,
holding by parts of a robot above the field surface or keeping balls surrounded by parts of
one or two robots of the same team. If such a situation happens the teams have 5 seconds
time to change it otherwise the match will be stopped and the number of balls on eachhalf of the field will be calculated to get the score, the judges will count down 5 seconds.
If the ball goes out of the game field, it will be returned to the half of the team that throw
the ball out, and judges will put it in one of the corners (in any situation).

Matches – End of a match (Refer to the attached table for more details):
6.31.
6.32.

6.33.

6.34.

If any of the conditions stated in the attached table occur, the race will end and the time
will stop (please refer to the Appendix- Table of Decisive Cases 6.31.1.to 6.31.10)
Team members must stop their robots when the judge signals that the match is stopped.
The robots must stay on the field till the teams are given permission by the judge to takethem off. Team members must not move the balls either from one half of the field toanother or outside of the field. If a team violates the rule, they will forfeit the match by 80.
A ball (or balls) pushed, kicked or thrown by the robots after the judge’s signal that thematch is stopped must be returned to those halves of the field where the robots moved
them from If there is uncertainty as to whether a ball was moved before or after the signal,
the judge is allowed to return it back to that half of the field where the robot responsible
for the ambiguous movement of the ball is located.
The judges will base their decisions on the rules and fair game play. They have the final
decision on the competition day. Please be aware that, as this is a team versus teamcompetition, should a dispute happen the decision of a judge could result in one of theteams losing.

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WRO RoboSports Category – General Rules

7. WRO Double Tennis – Scoring
7.1.

The official score will be calculated at the end of each match by the judges. The winner inthe group of two teams is identified after three matches.
7.2.
The winner of a particular match is decided as follows:
7.2.1. number of balls on the half of one team (T1) -- BT1
7.2.2. number of balls on the half of the other team (T2) -- BT2
7.2.3. if T1 has less balls on its half it wins (BT1 < BT2), if T2 has less balls on its half it wins
(BT1 > BT2), if they have equal number of balls, they are tied (BT1 = BT2).
7.3.
The decision as to whether a ball is on one half or another is made based on the ball’s
position on the field. So, even if the ball is in contact with a robot the determinant is whichside of the field it is on. If a ball is in contact with the robot and there is uncertainty as towhich side of the field it is on then it will be decided according to which half of the field therobot is touching with, its wheels.
7.4.
If the match is stopped due to the actions of a member of one of the teams (e.g., a teammember touches a robot), the team which this participant belongs to loses the match by
8-0.
7.5.
The team which won the most matches of the game wins and gets 3 points, the otherteam gets 0. Winning 2 matches is an obvious win, but also if a team wins 1 match andthe other two is a tie then the team wins the game.
7.6.
If all three matches are a tie, then the game result is a tie as well with both teams getting
1 point.
7.7.
The team must verify and sign the score sheet after the game, unless they have a faircomplaint.
7.8.
The teams’ rankings for tournament (with teams in a table) are based on the sum of eachteam’s points received in the games. If two teams have the same sum of points thefollowing criteria are then considered (listed in the priority order):7.8.1. number of violations: the team with fewer violations has a better ranking, more details
on possible violations you can find in the chapter 12, the table of violations and end ofmatches situation.
7.8.2. The sum of the balls on the opponent’s half of the field in each match: across all thematches each of the drawn team plays, the team whose opponents have, collectively,
got the greater number of balls wins.
7.8.3. If the ranks of two teams are still the same, judges can consider to have additional setof matches until one team has two wins more (in additional matches) than another
team.
7.9.
If the tournament mode uses (in addition to a table) a knock-out mode, it is necessary to
determine a winner for each game. If a game would result into a tie because of match
results, then the winner is determined by violations first (as in 7.8.2) and by balls secondly(as in 7.8.3). If the two teams are still ranked the same, one or more additional matches
needs to be played to determine the winning team of the game.

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WRO RoboSports Category – General Rules

Scoring Example for a table ranking:
The following example shows the final ranking of 4 teams (A, B, C, D) playing against eachother. Every team had 3 matches. You can see that team A and B got the same points (7), but
team B scored more balls. Because of that, team B wins (rank 1).

A
A
B
C
D

B
1

C
3

D
3

4:4/2:6/4:4 6:2/3:5/7:1 8:0/5:3/6:2

1

3

4:4/6:2/4:4

0

6:2/7:1/6:2 4:4/5:3/8:0

00

2:6/5:3/1:7 2:6/1:7/2:6

0

3

0

0:8/3:3/3:5

3

0:8/3:5/2:6 4:4/3:5/0:8 8:0/3:3/5:3

Points Scored Balls RANK
7

45

2

7

50

1

0

19

4

3

28

3

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WRO RoboSports Category – General Rules

8. Robot material & regulations
8.1.
8.2.

8.3.
8.4.

8.5.
8.6.

8.7.

8.8.
8.9.
8.10.
8.11.
8.12.

8.13.

8.14.
8.15.
8.16.
8.17.

Teams must build two robots. Each robot’s dimensions must not exceed 200x200 mm
and 200 mm in height during the match.
The controller, motors and sensors used to assemble robots must be from the LEGO®
Robotics platforms: LEGO® Education MINDSTORMS® EV3; LEGO® Education
SPIKE™ PRIME; LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 or Robot Inventor
Teams can use Bluetooth or Wi-Fi for their robots’ communication during the matches.
Any kind of communication between robots and any other device apart from the team’s
other robot is forbidden. The judges can inspect the code and the robots in order toconfirm that it is not used by any means.
Teams can use any cameras of their choice. WRO recommends use of Pixy2 for LEGO®
MINDSTORMS® EV3 and OpenMV for LEGO® SPIKE PRIME.
Teams can also use processing boards as part of the camera but both the camera andthe board can only process the image. It is not allowed for these devices to handle anyother logic. Teams can also use small displays on their robots at all times as far as it fits
in the dimensions of 200 x 200 x 200 mm.
For the WRO International Final the only allowed battery for SPIKE/EV3 must be an official
LEGO rechargeable battery (no. 45610 or no. 6299315 for SPIKE/Robot Inventor, no.
45501 for EV3,). Cameras and processing boards are not allowed to have their own
batteries.
Additional optical elements like lens kits or mirrors can be used together with cameras.
The use of SD cards to store programs is allowed. SD cards must be inserted before
check time and may not be removed until the next practice time starts.
Only LEGO branded elements may be used to construct the remaining parts of a robot.
WRO recommends use of the Education versions of LEGO® MINDSTORMS®.
Teams can use 3D printed elements, elements prepared with a CNC machine, elements
cut from acrylic/wood/metal to fix a camera, a lens kit or a mirror on to the robot.
It is not allowed to use screws, glues or tape or any other Non-LEGO material to fasten
LEGO components on robots. The teams are not allowed to make any changes to theoriginal LEGO parts (e.g. controller, engine, sensors etc.). The only exceptions are
original LEGO ropes or tubes, that can be cut to size, and also disassembling sensors of
Spike Prime or Robot Inventor packages to use their wires and connectors for connecting
the Camera to the Hub. Failure to comply with these rules will result in disqualification.
Teams should bring enough spare parts. In the case of any accidents or equipment
malfunction, WRO (and/or organizing committee) is not responsible for their maintenanceor replacement.
The teams can bring the robots assembled.
Contestants may prepare the program for the robots beforehand.
Control software can be written in any programming language – there are no requirements
to use a specific language.
Teams can only have a maximum of two controllers with themselves in the competition
area.

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WRO RoboSports Category – General Rules

9. Game table and equipment
Game Table & Field
9.1.
9.2.

9.3.
9.4.

9.5.
9.6.
9.7.
9.8.

9.9.

In this category, the robots play double tennis. Every field consists of a game table (aneven ground with borders) and a printed mat that is put into the game table.
The dimensions of a WRO mat in any age group are 2362 mm x 1143 mm. All Game
Tables are the same size, though a tolerance of +/- 5mm in length and width is given. The
official height of the borders of a game table is 100mm, higher borders can be used aswell. The borders are a bit higher than those of the RoboMission category tables, but inevery other respect they are the same size. Due to the use of the balls, the higher borders
are necessary for a better game play. The higher borders can be added (e.g. attached to)a RoboMission table. The thickness of the walls is not defined.
The inner color of the walls is white. The outer color of the walls is not defined.
The game mat must be printed with a matt finish/overlay (without reflecting colors!). The
preferred printing material is a PVC tarp with around 510 g/m² (Frontlit). The material of
the game mat should not be too soft (e.g. no mesh banner material).
The width of the thin black lines is 20 mm, the width of the thick black lines is 60 mm.
The diameter of the ball location areas is 50 mm. The color of the line is orange (RGB:
250, 204, 0).
The size of robot starting zones is 200 x 200 mm. The color of the dashed lines
surrounding the zones is green (RGB: 133, 188, 87).
Two ramps 300 x 563 x 50 mm are fixed on the field. The material of the ramps is wood,laminated chipboard or styrofoam. The main color of the ramp slope is green (RGB: 133,
188, 87). The width of the blue (RGB: 0, 112, 192) area is 100 mm. The width of the red(255, 0, 0) area is 50 mm. The color of the rest of the ramp is white.
The barrier size is 1562 x 17 x 50 mm. It is rigidly fixed to the field.
2362
668

210

20

133

50

200

220

400
20

1143
303

200
20

125

220

20

100

20

60
1181

Figure 8. The game field map with sizes

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WRO RoboSports Category – General Rules

Balls
9.10.
9.11.
9.12.
9.13.

Every ball is a standard ping pong ball with a diameter of
40mm.
The color of the ball is orange.
8 balls are required per game field.
The national and regional competition could use balls of
another color but they must be different from the otherelements of the field. The event organizers could consider
changing the colors of the field mat in order to make the balls distinguishable. They needto inform the teams about the changes from the beginning.

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WRO RoboSports Category – General Rules

10.

Ideas for simplification

Note: As mentioned at the beginning, these rules are made for all international WRO events.
National Organizers can decide to change the rules for local needs. Here, are two ideas that
could make the game easier.
Idea 1 – Larger Game Objects
The competition with ping pong balls mostly focuses on the robots with cameras. Some nationalorganizers could consider to adapt the challenge for the robots without cameras by using LEGO®
plastic 52 mm balls (Element ID: 4156530) or tennis balls with the diameter 65-68 mm.
Idea 2 – Simplified game field
There is the option of having the game field without the ramps:

Figure 9. Field without the ramps

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WRO RoboSports Category – General Rules

11.

Glossary

Check Time

During the check time, the judge will take a look at the robot and checkthe measurements (e.g. with a cube or a folding rule) and othertechnical requirements. A check needs to be done before every game.

Coach

A person assisting a team in the process to learn different robotics
aspects, teamwork, problem solving, time management, etc. The roleof the coach is not to win the competition for the team, but to teachthem and guide them through the problem identification and in
discovering ways to solve the competition challenge.

Competition
organizer

The competition organizer is the entity that hosts the competition ateam is visiting. This can be a local school, the National Organizer ofa country that runs the National Final or a WRO Host Country together
with WRO Association running the International WRO Final.

Game

A game consists of three matches of the same two teams in row. The
team which won the most matches of the game wins and gets 3 points,
the other team gets 0. (Refer to 7.5)

Match

Two teams play, with two robots each, a match that is scored. A teamwins a match if less balls are on the own part of the field at the end of
the match.

Practice Time

During the practice time, the team can test the robot on the field andthe team can change mechanical aspects or the coding of the robot.

Team

In this document the word team includes the 2-3 participants(students) of a team, not the coach who should only support the team.

WRO

In this document, WRO stands for World Robot Olympiad Association
Ltd., the non-profit organization running WRO world-wide and that
prepares all the game and rule documents.

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WRO RoboSports Category – General Rules

12.
Row

1

2

3

4

Appendix – Table of Decisive Cases
Rule

3.1 ~ 3.10

Rule Description

Violation of Ethics Code andunfair behavior.

6.1.2

If one of the team’s robots does
not pass the robot check by thejudges, the team will notparticipate in that Game.

6.10

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, itloses the whole game with all
three matches 8-0.

6.17

If a team enters data throughphysical adjustments, the teamwill not participate in that Game.

5

6.19

6

6.20

7

6.22

8

6.23

If both robots of a team are notmoving 10 seconds after the startsignal, the team will lose thatmatch immediately.
Removing both robots from thefield results in a lost match with 80 result.
If the part left by one robot
prevents balls to be deliveredfrom one half of the game field toanother, or the part left by one
robot is moved to the half
dedicated for another team’s
robots, the Match is stopped andthe team with the robot that left
the part on the field loses that
Match.
Entering data to a program bygiving visual, audio or any othersignals to the robots during thematch is a violation and theviolating team loses that Match.

The result of the Match/ Game

Remarks

The violating team loses thatGame 0-3 orgets disqualified from the entire
tournament depending on how
serious is the violation.

[Violation]
Losing a Gamemeans all 3
Matches havethe result of 8-0.

The violating team loses thatGame 0-3.

[Violation]
Losing a Gamemeans all 3
Matches havethe result of 8-0.

The violating team loses the
Match or the Game.

[Violation]
Losing a Gamemeans all 3
Matches havethe result of 8-0.

The violating team loses thatGame 0-3.

[Violation]
Losing a Gamemeans all 3
Matches havethe result of 8-0.

The violating team loses that
Match 8-0.

[Violation]

The violating team loses that
Match 8-0.

[Violation]

The violating team loses that
Match 8-0.

[Violation]

The violating team loses that
Match 8-0.

[Violation]

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WRO RoboSports Category – General Rules

9

6.26

10

6.27

11

6.28

12

13

6.29

6.31.114

6.31.215

6.31.316

6.31.4

If any part of the robot touches
the red area on the ramp, theMatch is stopped and the teamwith the robot that violated therule loses that Match.
If the robot of one team touches
the other team’s robot on
purpose, the violating team loses
that Match. The judges have todecide if the touch was on
purpose after taking all
circumstances into consideration.
A team’s robot touches any
surface (mat, the ramp’s slope,wall) on the opponent’s half ofthe field.
The situation when both robots of
one team operate simultaneouslywith more than 4 balls at thesame time for more than 5seconds is not allowed.

The match timer expires.

The robot of one team touches
the robot of another team or thesurface (mat, the ramp’s slope,wall) on the opponent’s half ofthe field.
The robot changes its size as so
dimensions exceed 200 x 200 x
200 mm.
After the first 30 seconds of thematch is passed, there is asituation when all in-game balls
are on the same half of the game
field for more than 10 seconds.
The balls loaded to the robots on
this half are counted as well. Thismeans that the teams must notcontrol all in-game balls for morethan 10 seconds, and the judge
announce this situation bycounting down 10 seconds andthe violating team loses the
Match 8-0.

The violating team loses that
Match 8-0.

[Violation]

The violating team loses that
Match 8-0.

[Violation]

The violating team loses that
Match 8-0.

[Violation]

The match will be stopped andthe number of balls on eachhalf of the field will becalculated to get the score.

[Violation]

The teams have to stop theirrobots when the judge calls out
STOP. Then scoring takes
place.

All balls that are
passed over tothe opponent’s
game field after
call of the judge
must be placedback to where it
was when thejudge called
STOP.

This is considered a violationand the violating team loses the
Match 8-0.

[Violation]

The violating team loses that
Match 8-0.

[Violation]
Losing a Match
8-0.

The violating team loses that
Match 8-0.

[Violation]

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WRO RoboSports Category – General Rules

17

6.31.5

Any team member touches arobot, a ball, the field mat, theramp, the barrier or the wall.

The violating team loses that
Match 8-0.

[Violation]

If one robot drives outside thegame field, the match
continues. If both robots do it, it
is considered a violation andthe violating team loses thematch 8-0.

[Violation]

18

6.31.6

The robot drives outside of thegame field.

19

6.31.7

The robot damages a ball.

The violating team loses that
Match 8-0.

[Violation]

20

6.31.8The robot or team member
damages the field or a gameelement.

The violating team loses that
Match 8-0.

[Violation]

21

6.31.922

6.31.1023

7.8.2

There are no balls on the game
field.

The match is stopped andconsidered a tie.

A tie for a Matchmeans 0-0, and atie for the final
result of a gamemeans 1-1.

Stop by agreement: if both robots
of both teams get stuck in a
program loop which does not leadto any further meaningful action, The match will be stopped andthe two teams can decide to end the number of balls on eachhalf of the field will be
the match and the scores arecalculated to get the score.
calculated. Important that to do
this the clear consent of bothteams are needed.
The Violations in this tableshould be taken into
consideration.

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