The challenge of the 2023 edition of ROBOCAT , promoted by the association El Racó dels Robotaires , is based on the theme of sustainable agriculture . With a world population expected to reach around 9.7 billion people by 2050 and global food demand expected to increase by at least 70%, producing enough food to feed the entire population will prove to be a formidable and critical global challenge.
Robotic solutions have the potential to reduce the most cumbersome tasks of agricultural workers, improve the punctuality of operations and compensate for labor shortages, which occur especially during peak harvest periods. However, even if these solutions seem almost utopian, there are still questions. Some questions arise, such as:
- What is the future of these technologies in developing countries?
- What is its adaptability to the socio-economic contexts of small farmers?
- How can we move from current and often unsustainable agricultural practices to more innovative and environmentally friendly ones?
The challenge consists of collecting three types of fruit by teams, and taking them to the designated collection area during the 2 minutes of the game. The local tournaments will be Mataró, Barcelona and Girona and the Grand Final will be held on Saturday 13 May 2023 in Olesa de Montserrat (Barcelona).
How to register a team?
The registration period for ROBOCAT 2023 ends on February 12, 2023 . The maximum number of teams that can be registered per school, company, institution or entity is six. The teams are formed by a maximum of 6 members . There are different forms of registration that you can find here .
What are the three categories of competition?
There are three categories of competition:
- Junior : students in the 5th and 6th year of Primary Education and in the 1st and 2nd year of Compulsory Secondary Education
- Senior : 3rd and 4th year students of Compulsory Secondary Education, Baccalaureate and Middle Level Training Cycles
- Adults : University students, Higher Education Courses and participants who do not belong to any of the previous categories
Each team has a coach or mentor. In the case of being over 18 years old, the coach or mentor can coincide with one of the participants in the team.
In addition, the association El Racó dels Robotaires launches Noies ROBOCAT with the aim of promoting STEM vocations among girls up to 18 years old through a scholarship program awarded to educational centers, companies, entities and individuals who want to participate in the competition. The requirements to participate in the ROBOCAT Girls program are:
- Form teams of children and young people up to 18 years old
- Form teams of at least 5 members
- Form teams of at least 3 girls
- Commitment to participate in the program for 1 year
- Participate for the first time in ROBOCAT
- It is limited to one registration per school, entity, company or institution
Application does not imply automatic participation in the program. Once the selection criteria have been met, the places available to participate in the program will be awarded by application form and according to available funding.
What is the structure of the championship?
- Micro-ROBOCAT : small self-organized tournaments by educational centers, entities, companies or institutions where a minimum of 2 teams participate. These tournaments give access to the territorial phases of the
- Territorial phases : tournaments co-organized between the association El Racó dels Robotaires and the territorial partners of the competition - educational centers, entities, companies and institutions. They give access to the Grand Final.
- Grand Final : final tournament with the best ranked teams in the territorial phases.