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Robofest Jr & Sr GAME and (NEW!) Jr & Sr Exhibition
"ROBOFEST, hosted by Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, MI, is a festival of competitions and events with autonomous robots encouraging students to have fun while learning STEAM, AI, and Computer Science principles."
Acadia Robotics is pleased to be partnered with Robofest, LTU, to provide opportunities for youth in grades 4-12 across the Maritime provinces to compete in Official Qualifying Competitions for the Game and Exhibition categories. Top teams are eligible to attend the Robofest World Championship, hosted this year by KwangWoon University in Seoul, South Korea (May 2027)
Participation:
Youth form teams of 1-5 under the guidance of 1-2 coaches. Robot programming teams are youth-led, so coaches needn’t be knowledgeable in the technical side of robotics; rather, they focus on the logistical side of the team, and work to keep the youth on track and help them with the problem-solving process. Teams are often school based, coached by teachers and guardians, and funded by the school; however, many teams are parent-led, with members from their community or friends of their children.
Teams are welcome to compete in either or both categories, Game and Exhibition.
Coaches/organizations are welcome to have multiple teams, so long as each team has their own robot.
Teams typically meet once or twice a week leading up to the competition to work on their strategy, programs, and materials for the event.
We are available throughout the season to offer information for the event-day, but also to provide clarity on the challenges, if needed. We also host free workshops to help teams prepare and connect with other groups.
To learn more about what Robofest entails, visit their 2027 Main Page for General Rules, videos, and FAQ
Robofest GAME Category:
Game teams are composed of 1-5 youth, competing in either the junior (gr.5-8) or senior (9-12) division.
2027 Game theme: RoboPetCare Challenge
"We love our pets, but taking care of them presents challenges. Robots can help by bringing a sick cat to the Vet, an unkept cat to the Groomer, delivering food to a hungry dog, taking a dog for a walk, playing with a cat in need and cleaning their litter box."
OFFICIAL Robofest Game Rulebook now available on Robofest's website.
The Game asks teams to complete as much of a themed challenge as they can in 2 minutes. The challenge theme and rules will be released in late fall and will include a materials list, how points are scored, and the table set-up specifications. The instructions may indicate exact positions or possible ranges for objects' placement on the table, and note which details won’t be revealed until the day of the competition. Students will develop programs to anticipate these unknown tasks and factors (UTFs), and practice with multiple game scenarios. Teams will be given the UTFs at the beginning of a 30-minute, coach-free work period where they will adapt their programs to account for the new information. For senior teams, some information will remain unknown, so that they must make use of robot sensors to anticipate variations. After the work period, the robots will be impounded until it is their turn at the table, so that no team is advantaged with additional time to work on their robot or code.
All official challenge rules and procedures are created and published by Robofest, and are available on the Game and Main pages of their website.
(NEW) Robofest Exhibition Category:
Exhibition teams are composed of 1-5 youth, showcasing their innovations for evaluation in either the junior (gr.5-8) or senior (9-12) division.
"Robofest Exhibition offers a stage for creative teams to expand beyond robot games with fixed rules and show off their imagination. Teams have complete freedom to create autonomous robotics projects such as robot pets, robots for scientific experiments, and practical robotics applications. Computer controlled robots with sensors may be of any size and can use any material. Hard-wired remote controllers are not allowed. Wireless host computer/robot control via software messages is allowed. Human interaction with the robots is allowed and encouraged."
Acadia Robotics is thrilled to welcome you in joining us in our first year of hosting the Jr and Sr Exhibition categories in Nova Scotia!
Please bear with us as we prepare more details to guide you in this new endeavour.
OFFICIAL Robofest Exhibition Rulebook and Guidebook available now on Robofest's website.