Competition Rules

The Shanghai Robot Challenge runs three competition programmes:

• RobotChallenge Traditional Events — twelve events, RC-001 to RC-012.
• RC.CODE Programming Events — Scratch, Python and C++ challenges.
• ROBOBOOM Junior Events — three beginner events for younger students, RB-001 to RB-003.

The full register with types, difficulty, groups and equipment is published further down this page.

Divisions are defined per event in its official rulebook. Across the programme:

• Junior and Senior divisions run on most traditional events.
• Adult divisions exist on Mini Sumo, Puck Collect and Free Style.
• ROBOBOOM Junior targets beginners: Grade 3 and below (Curling Challenge), Grade 4 and below (Line Straight Sprint) and under Grade 6 (RoboParade).
• RC.CODE participation depends on the school's existing curriculum and willingness to participate.

• Auto — the robot runs autonomously; no driver input during the run.
• Remote — the robot is driven by a controller during the match.
• Creative — judged on design, innovation and presentation rather than a timed run.
• Code — software-only programming challenges submitted for automated grading.

Mini Sumo (RC-002) is run in both autonomous and remote-controlled formats.

Equipment requirements are set per event:

• Official Lego series — Lego Sumo, Lego Line Follower, and the ROBOBOOM Line Straight Sprint.
• Lego or VEX IQ — Robot Rugby, Robot Bowling, RoboGolf, Unknown Mission and the ROBOBOOM events.
• VEX EDR — Puck Collect, Senior division.
• micro:bit control core — required for Push Shooting; remote control is not permitted in that event.
• Drones — Drone Soccer requires three drones per team, approximately 600–700 RMB each including accessories.
• No restrictions — Free Style.

Mini Sumo equipment is currently being confirmed, and Ring Master kit pricing is still to be determined.

Formats vary by discipline. Examples taken from the official rulebooks:

• Sumo — head-to-head; a robot loses by touching the ground outside the ring, or by shedding parts during the match.
• Line Follower — three attempts on a closed track; the shortest time is used for ranking.
• Robot Rugby — a three-minute game, three robots and three players per team, with a captain who may call timeouts.
• Puck Collect — a three-minute match; robots collect pucks and return them to their own base.
• RoboGolf — two minutes per round; the robot putts one ball at a time and may not be touched during the round.
• Drone Soccer — 3v3 aerial match, scoring by passing through the opponent's goal.

Scoring is defined individually in each rulebook. Examples:

• Puck Collect — points are recorded for pucks matching your base colour returned to your base.
• RoboGolf — the centre hole carries the highest points.
• Line Follower — ranked on the shortest valid time across three attempts.
• Free Style — judged against published evaluation criteria; teams prepare their own promotional materials and are given display space.
• RC.CODE — graded automatically through the RC.CODE Global Programming OJ System.

For complete scoring tables, field diagrams and judging procedure, consult the official rulebook for your event.

Robots are checked against the published specification before competing. Documented examples include size and weight limits — Robot Rugby robots must be under 20 × 20 × 20 cm and under 1.5 kg (Junior) or 3 kg (Senior); Mini Sumo is limited to 10 × 10 cm and 500 g; Puck Collect robots have maximum inspection dimensions of 50 × 50 cm. In the ROBOBOOM Line Straight Sprint the referee checks robot equipment before the competition.

Full inspection requirements are set out in each rulebook.

Every published rulebook can be viewed in the browser or downloaded from the Resources library, and from the panel on each challenge page. Where a document has not yet been supplied, the site shows it as pending rather than linking to a placeholder.