1Overview
RoboRAVE Korea Open runs five challenges — a-MAZE-ing, Line Following, SumoBot, MiddleBot and SoccerBot RC. All challenges follow the official Rules of RoboRAVE International Challenges (V6.2, 06.06.2026). The summaries below cover the core requirements; the linked official rulebook is the authoritative document.
Divisions
ES · Elementary SchoolMS · Middle SchoolHS · High SchoolUP · University / Professional
1-1If fewer than 5 teams are registered in any division, the Event Director may combine divisions.
RoboRAVE core values
Have fun while learningSharingTeamworkRespectResponsibility
1-2Behaviour must be friendly and respectful at all times. Any issue to be raised must be submitted in writing to the Event Director or Organizing Committee; confronting or harassing a track marshal, referee or judge may result in a warning, sanction or removal from the event.
2a-MAZE-ing
Goal — design, build and program a robot that follows an elevated wooden maze without falling off. Completing the maze before the time limit adds bonus points.
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Divisions | ES · MS (HS occasionally) |
| Robot | Autonomous, any platform (LEGO, Abilix, VEX, Makeblock, Arduino, ESP32 etc.), value ≤ USD $1,500. Minimum two wheels plus one caster wheel. |
| Volume | ≤ 65,030 cm³ |
| Sensors | Gyro sensors are prohibited. No external sensors may be used to follow the maze; wheel encoders are allowed. |
| Time | 2 minutes (120-second countdown) |
| Track | Particle board or similar, 24 cm wide × 2 cm high, with angled turns of −45°, −90° and −135°. ES: 4 straights + 3 turns. MS: 6 straights + 5 turns. |
| Scoring | 50 points per completed straight section, 100 points per completed angled turn (front wheels must touch the scoring line). ES total 500 points, MS total 800 points. Finishing early adds 1 bonus point per whole second remaining. |
2-1If the robot falls off the maze before the finish line and time remains, return it to the starting line and try again. A robot has fallen when any wheel is completely off the track or touches the surface supporting the track. The top eight teams in each division advance to the final tournament.
3Line Following
Goal — build a line-following robot that follows a black line on a white background to a tower, delivers at least one ball, and returns to its starting point. In the remaining time it returns to the tower to deliver the exact required number of balls for its division.
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Divisions | ES · MS · HS · UP ([LEGO/VEX IQ] and [Open] categories) |
| Robot | Autonomous, any platform, cost ≤ USD $1,500; volume ≤ 65,030 cm³. Multiple sensors and processors are allowed. |
| Time | 3 minutes. A line-following program must control the robot at all times. |
| Tower | 20 cm tall × 10 cm wide × 35 cm long, with a 10 × 10 cm opening on top and an open back; secured to the track with Velcro tape. The tower may not be touched during delivery. |
| Track | 120 × 180 cm, 3 mm. ES: no intersections, 1.25 cm line. MS: one intersection, 1.25 cm line. HS/UP: two intersections, 0.75 cm line. A new design is revealed on the first day of the event. |
| Required balls | ES 75–125 · MS 125–200 · HS 200–250 · UP 100–350. The exact number per division is posted at the event. |
Tower (unloading station) construction
| Panel | Size (W × H) | Thickness |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 200 × 200 mm | 5T |
| 2 | 200 × 200 mm | 5T |
| 3 | 100 × 200 mm | 5T |
| 4 | 90 × 190 mm | 10T |
| 5 | 90 × 100 mm | 10T |
3-1A successful run is: travel from home to the tower, drop at least one ball, and travel back home. After that, Bonus Ball Runs may be performed — the robot travels to the tower and delivers the exact required number of balls (it does not need to return home during bonus runs). Delivering fewer balls than required gives that number as the bonus score; delivering more subtracts the excess from the required number.
If a track monitor sees a team touch or reach into the tower, the run is stopped and the team receives only 400 points for completing the track, regardless of how many balls were delivered. No person may remove balls from the tower during delivery. Touching the robot at any time requires it to be picked up and returned to the start.
4SumoBot
Goal — design, build and program an autonomous robot that searches for and pushes the opposing Sumo robot off an elevated fighting ring.
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Divisions / weight classes | LEGO/VEX IQ 1 kg (ES) · Open 1 kg (ES/MS/HS/UP) · Open 3 kg (MS/HS/UP) |
| Robot | Autonomous, any platform, cost ≤ USD $1,500. Maximum size 25 × 18 cm with no height restriction, measured with articulated parts in the starting position. |
| Design restrictions | Articulated or moving parts are allowed (fins, sliding plates); deliberately destructive mechanisms such as abrasive rotors or hammers are not. Sumo robots must have no sharp parts or parts that may cause injury. |
| Ring | 800 mm in diameter. Black (or white) circle with a 5 cm white border, on a board 13–20 mm thick, elevated 50–80 mm above the floor. |
| Match | Round-robin matches; a match ends once a team wins twice. 3 points for a win, 1 for a tie, 0 for a loss. 3 minutes per match — no winner within the time is scored as a tie. The top 8 teams in each category advance. |
※ The ring diameter used at the RoboRAVE Korea Open is 800 mm. The RoboRAVE International rulebook (V6.2) specifies a 100 cm ring; the Korea Open figure above takes precedence for this competition.
4-1LEGO/VEX division — only the hardware (motors and sensors) and the controller must be official LEGO (SPIKE, EV3, NXT) or VEX (IQ). All other parts may be chosen freely.
Open division — metal bodies are prohibited. For the safety of participants, constructing the robot body from metal is not allowed.
4-2Activation and start — only one team member may approach the arena to activate the robot. Robots are placed on the markers designated by the referee; after both teams confirm the area is clear, the referees count down and the match begins. With a manual start, robots begin back-to-back at the centre, wait 3 seconds, move to the edge, touch it, then begin fighting.
Practice simulator
You can practise the SumoBot challenge in your browser before the event. RoboRAVE Sumo Simulator ↗
4-3Falling criteria — the loser is the robot that leaves the ring first, defined as touching the surface on which the ring is placed. Partial contact with the floor counts as a fall and ends the round; a robot floating or suspended without floor contact does not. The referee may call a tie after 60 seconds, or force a restart after 5 seconds of "robots locked". Handlers must not touch their robots unless instructed by the referee, and the referee's decisions are final.
5MiddleBot
Purpose — waste sorting and resource recycling. Through proper sorting, plastics, metals, glass and paper can be reprocessed into new products, saving energy and reducing environmental damage. Teams program a robot to sort coloured blocks into matching zones. Divisions: MS & HS.
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Field | 240 cm wide × 180 cm long. Signal light pole turning radius 60 cm. |
| Scoring blocks | Red, blue and green blocks, approximately 7 × 7 × 7 cm each. At the start a random number of blocks is placed in the centre of the field, with equal quantities of each colour. |
| Signal light pole | 12 × 12 × 20 cm with a button on top; the front red area is the signal display. |
| Match | Each match lasts 2–5 minutes. A challenge-based system is used: each team may attempt 5 runs and the top 3 scores are recorded as the final result. |
5-1The gray mat is the starting area and the robot must start from it. The match begins when the contestant uses the robot to press the signal light pole button behind the starting area — the countdown timer then starts. After the start, the robot must press the remaining signal light poles on the field; each press changes the light colour randomly among red, green and blue, and the contestant must set the poles so that all three colours appear.
5-2The robot moves the coloured blocks from the centre of the field onto the yellow mats. The colour of the blocks on each yellow mat must match the colour of the adjacent signal light pole — for example, if the LED next to a yellow mat is red, only red blocks may be placed there. Blocks may be laid flat or stacked, but the scoring method differs.
5-3Scoring — each correctly placed block on the matching mat scores base points. Stacking increases the score: layers × base score × multiplier, and the higher the stack the higher the multiplier (e.g. 9 unstacked blocks = 9 × base; a stack of 2 = (2 × base) × 2; a stack of 3 = (3 × base) × 3). A match ends when the countdown reaches zero, or when the robot returns to the starting area and presses the pole button to stop the timer.
5-4If time remains when the robot stops the timer, the remaining seconds are added to the score. However, if blocks are still left in the centre of the field, or blocks on the yellow mats do not match the signal light colour, the remaining time is not added. At the end of the match, if any ground-contact point of the robot touches the starting area mat, an additional bonus score is awarded for that round.
6SoccerBot RC
Goal — design, build and program two radio-controlled robots to play soccer.
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Divisions / weight | 800 g class — ES · MS · HS |
| Robots | Two radio-controlled robots, any platform, cost ≤ USD $500 each team. Maximum dimensions 15 × 15 × 15 cm — no tolerance allowed. Battery powered; external power via cables is not permitted. |
| Ball handling | Shooting, grabbing, kicking or clamping mechanisms, sticky materials, solenoids, or any system that pushes or holds the ball are prohibited. A robot may enclose at most 30% of the ball's volume, leaving 70% exposed. Ball: 42.67 mm diameter, 45.93 g. |
| Match | Maximum 3 minutes, divided into two halves of 90 seconds; teams switch sides at half time with up to 30 seconds to do so. No extra time, time-outs or stoppage time. Game time stops when the ball leaves the field. |
| Field | 1.20 m × 1.80 m, goals 0.50 m wide. Printed on durable paper, PVC vinyl (canvas) or 3 mm Trovicel. |
6-1Points — 3 points to the winning team for scoring more goals; 3 points if the opposing team cannot continue due to damage or battery depletion, even if that team was leading; 3 points and three goals if the opposing team does not appear (walkover); 1 point for a draw; 0 points for a loss, if both teams cannot continue, or if neither team appears. Group-stage ties are decided by the highest number of goals scored, then by coin toss; in the single-elimination stage a tie is decided by golden goal.
6-25-second rule — if robots become entangled and cannot move, or if the ball is stuck in a corner and cannot move, the referee waits 5 seconds, then moves the ball to the centre of the field and instructs the teams to return their robots to their original starting positions before the match resumes.
6-3No touching the robots — even if a robot is flipped over or unable to move, neither the referee nor the participants may touch it. The only exception is when a goal is scored: robots may then be picked up and returned to their starting positions. In short, no one may touch a robot on the field unless a goal has been scored or the 5-second rule situation has occurred.
The following are violations of fair play, sanctioned with a goal awarded to the opposing team or disqualification: taking more than 30 seconds to restart after a stoppage; compromising the integrity of the competition; deliberately controlling the opposing team's robots; deliberate interference by a non-competing team or spectator; use of flammable devices; deliberately damaging the field or event setup; insulting the referee or the opposing team. It is strictly prohibited to glue, adhere or use suction to keep the ball attached to the robot. Robots must be clearly marked with the team name and number and may not be shared between teams.
※ The regulations for this competition may be subject to future revisions. Please check periodically for updates.
Inquiries
Please send inquiries to robot-league@naver.com or contact the association representative, Daewon LEE, on WhatsApp at +82 10 2604 3782.