The Open Championship 2024 took place in Brescia, Italy, from September 25 to 28. WRO Switzerland arrived with 10 teams from 3 categories and 4 age groups, their coaches, 6 referees and other accompanying persons. With a total of 46 people, it was the largest delegation that Switzerland has ever sent to an international competition.
Tuesday, September 24 – Arrival
After arriving by car, we checked into our hotel: the Centro Pastorale Paolo VI, in a Renaissance palazzo that was also temporarily a seminary, was an impressive place to stay. But we didn't stay there for long; we tackled the short but steep climb to the Castello. This fortress offered a spectacular view of the city and an adventure playground for the youngest participants all in one. Back in the city, we enjoyed a delicious dinner, where everything was done to make our bambini and ragazzi feel at home, as is customary in Italy.
Wednesday, September 25 – Open training
On Wednesday, the competition got underway. The day was dedicated to free training. When the exhibition hall of the Brixia Forum opened, we were almost alone for a long time; many other delegations only arrived later in the day. But this gave our teams plenty of time and space to adapt their robots to the conditions in the hall. In the late afternoon, there was a test run under competition conditions. A good exercise for teams and referees. The day came to an end with the opening ceremony and the obligatory flag parade.
Thursday, September 26 – Friendship Day
The competition had a break that day and the robots stayed in their hotel rooms. Instead, the children and young people set off in "SuperTeams" (approx. 5 teams of the same age group from different countries) to get to know the city and each other. In a treasure hunt, they explored the impressive remains from Roman times and the Museo Santa Giulia. The aim was for the participants to get to know each other as colleagues and make friends, rather than just meet as rivals in competition. The adults also had the opportunity to explore the interesting city on a tour. After the mass catering in the exhibition hall on Wednesday, we enjoyed lunch and dinner in various restaurants that day. The approximately 1,300 participants, coaches, referees and registered accompanying persons were spread over a dozen or so restaurants where they could enjoy Italian cuisine.
Friday, September 27 – Competition Day 1
Things finally got serious on Friday. Four races awaited the six teams in the RoboMission category. There was a rollercoaster of emotions: from not good at all to very good, there was everything throughout the day. Fortunately, only the best run counted in the end.
The two youngest teams, who took part in the Kids age group (6 to 10 years), had fewer runs, but they had to explain their robots, their program and their strategy to the judges in interviews. These interviews were also included in the results.
The only team competing in the Future Innovators category was able to present their research project to the jury twice – and in between, they answered the questions of countless Italian schoolchildren who visited the WRO with their classes.
The team, which was competing in the Future Engineers category for the first time, also had its first runs.
In the evening, the Friendship Night took place in the exhibition hall. It is a nice tradition that the participants bring small souvenirs from their country and exchange them with the children and young people from other countries. This resulted in whole collections of pins, stickers, bookmarks, sweets and other little things, which the participants were able to take home as treasures. The friend books that each participant was given at the beginning were also put to good use and filled with address information about new friends from all over the world. This evening proved it once again: The international encounters and new friendships are as important at the WRO as robotics itself.
Saturday, September 28 – Competition Day 2 and journey home
On Saturday we had to get up early, pack our bags and take all our luggage on the shuttle bus to the exhibition hall. Then the second day of the competition got underway. The "Second Day Challenge" was on the agenda for RoboMission, where completely new tasks had to be solved on the familiar game field. There were also competitions and presentations for the jury in the other categories. All performances had to be completed before lunch, after which there was time for the competition management to evaluate the results. Meanwhile, the teams had to wait – the tension was enormous.
The long-awaited moment had finally arrived. Of the 10 teams that we accompanied to Brescia, two were able to stand on the podium at the end, one of them at the top, and there was also a special award for another team. We were delighted with these successes. After the awards ceremony, we were able to get back on our bus right by the exhibition hall and arrived home late in the evening, tired but satisfied.
Results
Category RoboMission – Kids (6-10 years)
2nd place: Robolix (and Best Robot Decoration Award)
4th place: RoboMatik Masters (and Best Programming Award). Comment from a team member: "I am most proud of this special award!"
Category RoboMission – Elementary (8-12 years)
22nd place: Lego Knights
35th place: Team Starlight Place: Team Starlight
Category RoboMission – Junior (11-15 years)
27th place: The SoZo Duo
39th place: Highlander two Place: Highlander two
Category RoboMission – Senior (14-19 years)
10th place: Balda7strich3
11th place: Phoenix Place: Phoenix
Future Innovators – Elementary category:
11th place: Salut Robot!
Category FUTURE ENGINEERS
1st place: FlawFactory🎉👏
