Freestyle Showcase University Rules (for high school graduates, students or university graduates)
Short Description:
The Freestyle Showcase University category includes participants who are high school graduates, students or university graduates, whether they are members of robotics clubs or compete independently.
This challenge aims to evaluate robots or electronic projects based on the problem addressed, the proposed solution, the originality of the approach, the practical use case and key technical parameters. Also include 2 components - Freestyle - electronic project or robot exhibition and Showcase - electronic project or robot presentation.
Changelog
01.07.2025
Short Description:
New chapter
1. General Aspects
1.1. Definition
New organization of the paragraphs
Rules A, C, D, E, F, G – new rules
2. Requirements
2.1. General Electronic Project or Robot Specifications
2.1.1. Freestyle
New organization of the paragraphs
Rule B, D – new rules
2.1.2. Showcase
New chapter
2.2. Electronic Project or Robot Limitations/Restrictions
New chapter
3. Requirements for the Freestyle and the Showcase categories
3.1. Freestyle Exhibit
New chapter
3.2. Showcase Presentation
New chapter
4. Course of the Competition
4.1. Competition system
New chapter
4.2. Competition calendar
New chapter
4.3. Competition deadlines
New chapter
4.4. Teams and electronic projects or robots
New chapter
5. Jury
New chapter
6. Scoring
New chapter
7. Violations
7.1. Violations
New chapter
7.2. Participant misbehavior
New chapter
7.3. Minor Violations
New chapter
7.4. Major Violations
New chapter
8. Penalties
New chapter
9. Declaring Objections
New chapter
10. Flexibility of Rules
New chapter
11. Liability
New chapter
APPENDIX 1
New chapter
APPENDIX 2
New chapter
17.07.2023
4.1. Robot or electronic project presentation (for Freestyle section)
4.2. Project presentation (for Showcase section)
5. Scoring
06.05.2015
First publishing
1. General Aspects
1.1. Definition
A. Any robot or electronic project is eligible for showcase, regardless of its function or purpose.
B. This section offers the chance to showcase new robots or any other electronic project concepts and highlight the novelty within the robots subscribed to other challenges within the competition.
C. This challenge is intended for robots or electronic projects that do not fit within the defined categories of the competition.
D. The objective of this challenge is to evaluate the robot or any electronic project based on the criteria outlined in Chapter 6, Section A.
E. Moreover the manner of presenting the electronic project or robot will be evaluated as well.
F. The evaluation process will be on both days of the competition.
G. A valid team must have up to 5 members and all the teams must respect the challenge rules.
H. Each team is expected to be supervised by one more coordinator or professors.
2. Requirements
2.1. Electronic Project or Robot Specifications
A. The assessment will comprise 2 components - Freestyle and Showcase, as outlined below.
2.1.1. Freestyle
A. The electronic project or robot will have to be displayed in the freestyle exhibit sector during both days of the competition.
B. The sector reserved for Freestyle Showcase University is marked in the area map available on the competition official website.
C. A designated jury will visit each booth and evaluate each project/robot during this time.
D. The electronic projects or robots must have displayed a number, offered by the organizers, in a visible place for the jury. The number is used to identify the electronic project or robot by the jury and can be found in the Team's Folder (details in Appendix 1).
2.1.2. Showcase
A. Team responsible for the development of the electronic project or robot is required to submit and present documentation to the jury structured in the format of a project report.
B. The documentation outlines the project’s key characteristics, which will be assessed based on the established evaluation criteria.
C. The documentation will be presented to the jury for formal review and assessment.
2.2. Electronic Project or Robot Limitations/Restrictions
A. For safety reasons the electronic projects or robots that have any flaming devices or can store flammable liquids, gases or other substances are not permitted.
B. For safety reasons the electronic projects or robots that can harm people or animals are not permitted.
C. Devices that throw things at opponents are not allowed.
3. Requirements for the Freestyle and Showcase categories
3.1. Freestyle Exhibit
A. The sector reserved for Freestyle Showcase University is marked in the area map available online and also on site and it is formed from booths.
B. Each team will have a booth of their own, defined as a rectangle of 2,00 m by 2,00 m with one table (0,90 m x 0,60 m) and 2 chairs.
C. In this area will be assigned a space for the poster display.
D. Each team is invited to prepare an A2-size poster (portrait orientation) which will be displayed alongside their electronic project or robot in the Freestyle exhibit area.
E. The poster should have a clear, concise and visually appealing layout, with a focus on readability from a distance.
F. Essential considerations for an effective scientific poster include the following:
G. During the Freestyle exhibit, the contestants should be available for public questions.
H. Each team is responsible to print and bring the A2 poster to the competition
3.2. Showcase presentation
A. On the first day of the competition, each team is required to present their electronic project or robot before the jury for evaluation.
B. The presentation is required to be in English and shall not exceed a duration of 05:00 minutes.
C. The presentations will take place in a room reserved for this purpose and will be announced to the teams.
D. Each team is responsible to prepare in advance a PPT presentation saved with the file name format: ContestNumber_Category_TeamName.pdf or .pptx (e.g. 14201_Freestyle Showcase High School_Fantasticii.pdf or .pptx).
E. The PPT presentation must be sent to e-mail robochallenge.romania@gmail.com by October 31st, 06:00 PM.
F. The PPT presentation should be organized according to the structure outlined in Appendix 2.
G. During the visit, each jury member may ask (non-)technical questions to be able to evaluate the electronic project or robot.
4. Course of the Competition
4.1. Competition system
A. The Freestyle Showcase University will take place on both days of the competition.
B. This limit can be extended or reduced depending on the number of electronic projects or robots registered.
C. Each team is allowed to set up the booth after check-in until the start of the challenge (until Saturday 10:00).
D. The ranking is done according to the jury for each electronic project or robot.
4.2. Competition calendar
A. The teams registered in the Freestyle Showcase University category will send the electronic projects or robots documentations until October 10th, 11:59 PM, on robochallenge.romania@gmail.com.
B. The submitted documentation is required to be in English.
C. Between October 11th - 17th the jury will provide feedback of the registered electronic projects or robots documentations.
D. The teams will receive the feedback on email provided at the online team’s registration.
E. Between October 18th - 25th teams can revise the documentation based on the feedback received from the jury.
F. After revision the teams must resend the documentation until October 25th, 11:59 PM.
G. Between October 25th - 30th teams will not be permitted to revise or modify their submitted documentation.
H. The teams registered in the Freestyle Showcase High School category will send the PPT presentation until October 31st, 06:00 PM, on robochallenge.romania@gmail.com.
4.3. Competition deadlines
A. The documentations submitted after October 10th, 11:59 PM, will not be accepted for participation in the competition and will result in disqualification.
B. Revised documentations submitted after October 25th at 11:59 PM, will not be accepted and the team will be evaluated based on the initially submitted documentation.
C. The PPT presentations submitted after October 31st, 06:00 PM, will not be accepted for participation in the competition and will result in disqualification.
4.4. Teams and electronic projects or robots
A. The teams are required to provide a valid e-mail address at the registration and are responsible to check it regularly. This e-mail address will be used by the jury to provide feedback and for other communications.
B. No objections shall be declared against the jury's decisions. If there are any objections the team can be disqualified.
C. All the teams will stay in the booth reserved for each team. The teams can leave the booth only if the jury requests that.
D. The teams are required to bring and to display the A2-size poster in the designed space.
E. Each team has the responsibility to follow the starting grid (schedule), displayed on the website. PLEASE DON’T BE LATE, WE WILL NOT WAIT!!!
F. Each team has the responsibility to take care of their electronic project or robot and good and safe operation of their electronic project or robot.
5. Jury
A. The jury will consist of university professors and/or industry partners that cover all fields involved.
B. The jury component will be published online on the official website of the competition.
C. The decisions of the jury regarding these rules and the conduct of the event shall be final.
D. Each jury member may pose technical and/or non-technical questions as necessary to effectively evaluate the electronic project or robot.
6. Scoring
A. The jury will assess each electronic project or robot according to the following evaluation criteria:
B. Each electronic project or robot will be assigned a score based on the evaluation criteria and the top 3 entries will be awarded prizes.
C. The winners will be officially announced at the conclusion of the 2 day exhibition.
7. Violations
7.1. Violations
A. Players performing any of the deeds described in Sections 2.2, 7.2 or 7.3 shall be declared in violation of these rules.
7.2. Participant misbehavior
A. A player who utters insulting words to the opponents or to the jury or puts voice devices in the electronic project or robot to utter insulting words or writes insulting words on the body of an electronic project or robot or performs any insulting action, is in violation of these rules.
B. Yelling at the jury and the opponents is not allowed.
C. Threatening gestures towards the jury and opponents are not tolerated.
D. Repeated aggressiveness in language and in behavior of the participants can lead to the elimination of the team from the competition and result in the call of the security guards.
E. Gestures, symbols or offending words written on the outside case of the electronic project or robot are considered regulations violations.
7.3. Minor Violations
7.3.1. A minor violation is punishable with a warning and is declared when:
A. The competitor leaves the booth for a long period of time and the electronic project or robot gets damaged.
B. Performs the following deeds:
i. demand to stop the evaluation without appropriate reasons.
ii. take action of any kind which is contrary to the spirit of fair-play of the game.
C. If a team has 2 warnings, the team can be disqualified depending on the gravity of the action that they did.
7.4. Major Violations
7.4.1 A major violation is punishable with deduction of 2 points or disqualification when:
A. The electronic project or robot can not be safely operated.
B. The electronic project or robot catches fire. The team will be disqualified.
8. Penalties
8.1. Penalties
A. Players who violate these rules by performing the deeds described in Sections 2.2, 7.2, 7.3 shall lose 2 points from the team and order the violator to clear out. The violator is not honored with any rights.
B. Each occasion of the violations described in Sections 7.3 shall be accumulated. Two of these violations shall deduct 2 points from the team.
C. The violations described in article 7.3 shall be accumulated throughout one day.
9. Declaring Objections
9.1. Declaring Objections
A. There won't be any objections to the jury's decisions.
B. If there are any objections, they must be addressed to the jury president, before the evaluation is over, by one of the team members and only if it is a problem with the regulations.
10. Flexibility of Rules
A. As long as the concept and fundamentals of the rules are observed, these rules shall be flexible enough to encompass the changes in the number of electronic projects or robots.
B. Modifications or abolition of the rules can be made by the local event organizers as long as they are published prior to the event and are consistently maintained throughout the event.
11. Liability
A. Participating teams are always responsible for their own safety and for the safety of their electronic projects or robots and are liable for any accidents caused by their team members or their electronic projects or robots.
B. The RoboChallenge organization and the organizing team members will never be held responsible nor liable for any incidents (including robbery, damage etc) and/or accidents caused by participating teams or their equipment.
APPENDIX 1
Team’s folder will have the following items:
APPENDIX 2
The electronic project or robot participating in the Freestyle Showcase must be accompanied by a written technical documentation and a PowerPoint-style presentation, created using Microsoft Office Suite, LaTeX or any other similar software.
APPENDIX 2.1
A. Documentation structure
It is recommended that the work be structured into chapters and subchapters, as follows:
1. Title page
2. Content
The documentation must contain a table of contents that will include the titles of all chapters and subchapters, as well as the page on which they begin.
3. (optional) Figures list and tables list
If figures and/or tables appear in the documentation, they will be numbered. For example:
Fig. 1.1 - Block diagram of the designed system (first figure in chapter 1)
The list of figures/tables will contain all the names and pages where they are found.
4. (optional) Acronyms list
The first time an acronym is used in the written documentation, the full name will be given in the parentheses and the acronym will be included in the list of acronyms in alphabetical order.
Example: ADC – Analog-to-Digital Convertor
5. Introduction
The documentation must include description of the project and its objectives.
6. Current state of the field (State-of-the-art)
What is currently used as a de facto standard?
What are the industry or widely adopted standards?
What is being sought to improve?
7. Hardware resources
Hardware description of all parts used in the project.
Note: It is not recommended to include images of the components used.
8. Software resources
Description of the software tools used în the project (external libraries, development, their operation etc.).
9. Hardware implementation
Description of how to make the hardware part, the operating principle and all the electrical diagrams of the project.
10. Software implementation
This chapter will include code flow charts, the actual code and explanation for the relevant parts (developed in the Arduino environment or similar).
11. Conclusions
This chapter will include general observations and the implementation, problem encountered and possible improvements.
12. Bibliography
This chapter will contain all sources used in the project appropriately cited in the documentation (articles, websites, books, external libraries).
B. Documentation drafting and formatting rules
The documentation can be written using any word processing program (e.g. Microsoft Office, LaTex etc.).
The page format will be A4 with portrait orientation.
The number of pages will be a maximum of 20 pages.
The written documentation will use a formal style of expression, using the first person plural. Expressions such as ”me and my colleague” are not recommended.
When drafting the documentation the following will be observed:
1. Language of writing
2. The page margins will be at least 2 cm (left, right, top and bottom)
3. Line spacing
4. Align text in paragraphs
5. Fonts
6. Page numbering
7. Page header (optional)
8. Tables
9. Figures
10. Bibliographic references in the text
11.Bibliography
Examples of bibliography citation:
1. Book
Example:
[1] Anton A. Huurdeman, The Worldwide History of Telecommunications, John Wiley & Sons, 31 July 2003, p. 529
2. Article form a journal or conference proceedings
Example:
[2] D. Murphy, H. Darabi, „A complementary VCO for IoE that achieves a 195 dBc/Hz FOM and flicker noise corner of 200 kHz”, Proceedings of the 2016 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), pp. 44–45, 2016
3. Documents available exclusively online
Example:
[3] MOS Transistor Parasitic Capacitances, http://www.onmyphd.com/?p=mosfet.parasitic
Notes:
Tip: You can check the bibliography of Wikipedia pages for sources that can be cited and are reliable.
APPENDIX 2.2
Rules for creating a PowerPoint presentation
The presentation is not a documentation in itself, but a visual support for the oral defence of the project.
The following suggestions are recommendations, not mandatory requirements:
1. The presentation will last a maximum of 5 minutes and it is recommended not to exceed 10-12 slides. The number of slides can be greater if they include figures, diagrams and other graphic elements etc.
2. The use of formal language is recommended and encouraged.
3. Avoid filling slides with text and include only the main ideas. Figures accompanied by clear and concise explanations are recommended.
4. Don’t use backgrounds that are too busy or that can reduce the readability of the text. MAke sure you have a strong contrast between the background and the text.
5. Slides titles should be concise and relevant.
6. The last slide should contain:
7. Slides are support for the oral presentation and should contain only key ideas, clear concepts and suggestive images. Details will be explained verbally.
8. The presentation must follow the logical order of the written documentation.
For example, the presentation could contain:
