1. Only primary or secondary school students are eligible for this competition. Students from Integrated Programme or international baccalaureate school below the junior college level can also take part.
2. All primary students and secondary students in Singapore can participate in this competition. All teams can participate in either the Light Robot category or the Heavy Robot category in the Exploration Challenge.
3. Each school can send up to four (4) teams for the Exploration Challenge. Each team may be allocated to either the Light or Heavy weight categories. There can be up to 6 students in each team.
4. For the Exploration Challenge, Light weight competition category robots are typically Lego robots and any other robots with similar power and weight characteristics.
5. For the Exploration Challenge, Heavy weight competition category robots are typically VEX robots and any other robots with similar power and weight characteristics. If teams build their robots from raw parts, then they must ensure that the DC motors that they use are comparable to the VEX 2-wire 393 motors or V5 Smart Motors in terms of power. Vex 2-wire 393 motors have a maximum torque of 1.67 N m and a maximum speed of 100 revolutions per minute (rpm). (ref.)(ref.) This is to ensure that teams using such DC motors are not advantaged by overly-powerful motors.
6. The organizers reserve the right to decide whether a team’s robots fall under the Light or Heavy weight categories, and they also have the right to disqualify a team if its robots are deemed unsuitable for the category they were registered under. Teams should check with the organizers if they are not sure of the category of their robots.
7. Teams are allowed to register less powerful and lighter robots under the Heavy category.
8. Teams are NOT allowed to register very powerful and heavy robots under the Light category.
9. All teams must be administered by a teacher of the participating school; a team led by a coach is not allowed to participate.
10. Robot(s) submitted for the competition must be built and programmed by the students. Teachers and other staff may teach and advise students, but should leave the actual implementation to students.
11. Robots may NOT be shared across multiple teams. The robots used by each team must be built and programmed by the members of the team. Individual parts such as motors and wheels may be shared if the school has a shortage of parts, but there must not be sharing of entire portions of robots, such as arms, as these require effort to build. Similarly, CPUs must not be shared.
12. All entries to the East Zone DSTA-DSO Robotics Challenge should be made using the online registration form at the Challenge website: (update)
Teams must prepare and bring all the equipment, software and portable computers they need during the tournament.
Great flexibility will be given to teams in the construction of the robots, with few restrictions being placed. This is to encourage the exercise of creativity and problem-solving skills by students.
The robots must be designed in such a way that they do not damage the floor of the venue used in this year’s Challenge. Approval of the robots’ design is left to the discretion of the judges.
Any form of remote control can be used to control the robots. Typically, radio remote control sets are used, although proprietary Bluetooth remote control systems can also be used. Lego Mindstorms NXT robots can also be controlled using handphone Bluetooth apps.
If teams choose to control their robot(s) using radio control sets, they must ensure that a microcontroller (e.g., Lego RCX) on the robot is interpreting the signals from the radio receiver. Teams cannot control their robots using a radio receiver with servo-motors attached directly to it.
Robots may be constructed using parts from either the Lego Mindstorms kit or from other parts including raw parts, or a combination of both. Teams are allowed to combine parts from multiple sources. The key restriction is that the robots must be designed and constructed by the students, and not simply assembled from a purchased kit.
In the consideration of teams' robots for the additional awards, credit will be given to robots that demonstrate good mechanical or design skills on the part of the students. Robots constructed using kits such as Lego or VEX will be given less credit on account of the greater ease with which such robots can be built.
Teachers in charge should ensure that the robots constructed are not dangerous in any way to the students. Other than these precautions, students may apply their ingenuity to the fullest.
Robots may either be controlled using one or more microcontrollers of any type, including the Lego Mindstorms RCX or some other types of microcontroller devices like the Vex robotic microcontroller, Arduino or Raspberry Pi microcomputers.
Multiple microcontrollers may be used on any robot.