On Saturday, April 25, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at STU in Bratislava once again transformed into a hub of innovation and technical enthusiasm. The 27th edition of Istrobot—Slovakia's oldest mobile robot competition—confirmed its growing popularity with a record 111 registered robots from five European countries.
The event proved that technology knows no borders, neither geographic nor age-related: the youngest participant was just 7 years old, while the oldest surpassed 70. Participants hailed from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, and Germany.
Contestants measured their strength in five demanding categories. The LegoSumo arena experienced the greatest pressure, where robots built from Lego try to push their opponent out of the ring. It was dominated by the robot anonym123 of the team consisting of Matúš Hanes, Jakub Vilár, and Filip Novák from Banská Štiavnica.
"In the LegoSumo category, so many robots (44) gathered that we competed simultaneously in up to six rings, with each robot playing at least 5 matches. Although the algorithms were not very sophisticated, the effort for interesting construction and often also for aesthetics and overall appearance was visible in many," evaluated the course of events jury member Rado Kováč.
The spectator-attractive Ketchup Warehouse category also had a thrilling course, in which the robot Fedor of Tomáš Nováčik from Topoľčany won first place. Category judge David Obdržálek adds to the course:
"I was very surprised that although the robot didn't work for anyone on the first try, in the end, everyone managed to fix it, tune it, and finish programming it so that they managed to find at least one ketchup. I must also appreciate that compared to previous years, everyone tried to detect the opponent and avoid a collision. Safe robots are exactly what we are striving for."
In the Line Follower category, where robots overcome a track full of obstacles, the technically advanced robot Motoko Cryo Drake of Michal Chovanec from Žilina won. And after many years, fans of the Mouse in a Maze category could also be satisfied, because we had the opportunity to watch the robot Dexter // DX-01 of Tomáš Pavlíček from Bratislava, who built it specifically for this category. Not only did the perfect construction handle the pitfalls of the maze without problems, but it also precisely mapped it, and finally, the mouse performed a beautiful 6-second drive along the shortest possible path.
The Freestyle category traditionally offered the greatest diversity. First place was taken by the robot DMRob (Matúš Kvašňovský and Daniel Palubiak) from Staškov. Their robot was controlled by artificial intelligence and was able to answer various inquisitive questions. However, other projects also caught the jury's interest.
"The Freestyle had a higher participation than last year; the contestants presented more complex constructions. Personally, I was most interested in the construction of Lóránt Majer from Košúty, who built a small car controlled by an analog neural network on his own printed circuit board. Finally, he took 2nd place," says judge Marek Trebuľa.
A real inspiration and proof that modern technologies are truly for everyone was the Czech team Půda Crew – Antiquitates e Pluteo competing in the Freestyle. Four ladies from the Municipal Library in Polička, aged 57 to 81, presented the "Arrival of the Slavs" project realized with the help of Ozobot Evo robots. The library readers, who gradually overcame their respect for technology thanks to the so-called "digiSENior cafes," borrowed the robots to practice at home just like regular books. Their enthusiasm and original connection of history with robotics became one of the strongest moments of the year.
In addition to the competitions themselves, the event also offered visitors a rich accompanying program. Interested parties could view robots in the National Center of Robotics, had the opportunity to see the unique patented robot Brightpick Autopicker or Unitree humanoid robots. For the youngest participants, the Veselá veda association prepared fun activities with Lego. The successful implementation of the Istrobot competition would not be possible without the significant support of our faithful sponsors, which were the companies Alef and Brightpick together with AVIR, Airvolute, DiusAI, Elso, RLX, and TechFun, who also donated valuable prizes for the winners.
The Istrobot competition once again this year showed a high level of skills and innovative thinking of young talents. We heartily congratulate all participants and winners!
