⚠️ RULE ZERO – Zero Tolerance & Common Sense
In all sports, Rule ZERO applies, which states:

➤ "If you are not sure whether something is allowed, then it is probably NOT allowed."

All rules are based on common sense, the spirit of the sport, and the safety of all participants.

Any deliberate misinterpretation, violation of the meaning of the rules, or attempt to exploit gray areas for unfair advantage will not be tolerated and may lead to team disqualification from the competition.

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🎯 GOAL
The goal of Robot Athletes is to autonomously follow the black line on the white field of the track within 3 minutes, in the shortest possible time. The best time determines the winners.

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👥 TEAM – COACH

1. Participation in the competition is team-based, not individual.

2. Each team may consist of two (2) to three (3) members.

3. Each team must designate up to one (1) Robot Athlete Technician. Only the Robot Athlete Technician is allowed in the waiting area or competition area. The rest of the team must remain in the competition venue but cannot wait in line.                 ➤ In other words, they cannot occupy an additional spot. If a team fails to comply with this rule, it will be disqualified.

4. The team is allowed to change the designated Technician before each attempt on the track, to give all members the opportunity to be actively involved in the sport, although this is not mandatory.

5. All team members must be at least 10 years old (equivalent to 4th grade of primary school or above).

6. The team’s coach must be at least 20 years old.

7. To ensure smooth participation in the competition, the coach must have 1 assistant for every 3 teams they register in the competition.

8. Each team is allowed to have only one robot. Changing the robot during the competition is not allowed.                               ➤ Exception: In the  Adnanced category, up to two (2) robots may be registered per team for Senior and Adults age categories.

9. Teams are not allowed to share the same robot.

10. If a team encounters a serious technical issue with their robot, they are allowed to replace only the microcontroller or the electronic components, after obtaining permission from the Head Judges.

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🤖 ROBOT ATHLETE – ROBOT CATEGORY

The competition is conducted separately based on:

• Age category

• Robot category (Basic / Advanced)

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⚙️ ROBOT ATHLETE REQUIREMENTS – SPECIFICATIONS​

1. The Robot Athlete must be autonomous.

2. Its maximum dimensions must be 25 centimeters Width x 25 centimeters Length.

3. Weight up to 1 kg.

4. The minimum height of the Robot Athlete must be 5 centimeters so that it can be detected by the time-control sensor, and a maximum of 15 centimeters.

5. The Robot Athlete will be weighed and must comfortably fit into a control box.

6. The control box measures 25 x 25 centimeters plus a tolerance of two (2) millimeters.

7. The Robot Athlete must be placed in the control box without applying pressure.

8. The Robot Athlete must not wear or damage the track, nor pose a threat to spectators in any way.

9. The Robot Athlete must have a start and stop button.

10. For the Advanced category, the team may use a controller ONLY for the start.

11. Only one (1) microprocessor, four (4) motors, and four (4) sensors are allowed for the Basic category.
    ➤ The Advanced category is exempt from the limitation on microprocessors and sensors. Their use is unrestricted.

12. Robot Athletes in the Marathon Basic category are built exclusively from educational modular brick/beam kits (LEGO-like or equivalent, indicative examples LEGO® Education EV3/SPIKE/Robot Inventor, ZMROBO, MAKERZOID, ENJOY AI, Makeblock mBot, DFRobot Maqueen and similar) using the official hub/controller and the corresponding motors/sensors. All motor/sensor connections are made directly to the official hub, with official cables/parts of the kit; external microcontrollers, motor drivers/ESCs, non-official adapters/converters, or additional power sources/boosters are not permitted. Interoperability of official components of the same manufacturer is permitted when plug-compatible or via an official adapter (e.g., LEGO SPIKE motor on a LEGO Robot Inventor hub). 3D-printed parts of any kind are not permitted. Robots that do not meet the above are placed in the Marathon Advanced category.

13. The use of pneumatic devices/equipment is prohibited in any robot category.

14. In the Basic category, modified batteries, motors, and sensors are prohibited.

15. Pullback motors are strictly prohibited in any robot category, as the sport promotes engineering and experimentation to increase speed.

16. The use of gases (e.g., canisters or any equivalent) to increase speed is prohibited, as they are considered dangerous.

17. The use of a nominal electrical voltage greater than twenty-four (24) volts in any circuit or part of the Robot Athlete is prohibited.

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🧪 TECHNICAL INSPECTION

• The initial technical inspection takes place on the day of the competition, during the Robot Athlete’s first attempt.

• During the initial inspection, the team will be asked questions about the critical parts of the robot's program.
  ➤ The team must have their laptop with the robot’s program open.
  ➤ If it becomes clear from the answers that the team does not understand the program, they will receive a penalty equal to +20% of the time they achieve in the event.

• The technical inspection includes a robot examination based on the specifications described above.
  ➤ If the robot does not meet the requirements, it will not be allowed to compete and will be automatically disqualified from the event.

• After the completion of the initial inspection, the Robot Athlete is assigned its unique ID code.

• If a team is not present at the time of the initial technical inspection, it will result in automatic disqualification from the competition.

• A secondary technical inspection is also conducted before each attempt, performed by the assistant referee.

• If, during the competition procedure, the referee determines that a Robot Athlete is violating or failing to meet the prescribed specifications, the referee has the right to disqualify it immediately.

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🏟️ ARENA

• The competition arena remains secret until the day of the competition.
  Participants are expected to take into account the following data and the image at the bottom of the page and to develop code/algorithm that can be executed on any arena.

• The arena is white in color and made of PVC material.

• The size of the arena can range from 5m² up to 35m².

• The arena is "closed".

• A "closed arena" is defined as an arena in which the starting point and the finishing point are located on the same side of the arena.

• A line runs through the arena, which may form curves, right angles, etc.

• The line is printed on the arena with black ink (or is marked with black-colored adhesive tape).

• The line has a width of 1.8 cm.

• At the intersection point, the Robot Athlete must follow a straight path.
  It is not allowed to lose the line or to follow the intersection path.

• The minimum distance of the line (axially) from the edge of the boundary of the arena is 25 cm.

• The minimum diameter of a turning curve is 10 cm.

• The starting and finishing point is defined as the point where the time measurement sensor is located.

• The black line is surrounded by empty space measuring 18 to 20 centimeters on each side, except at the intersections.

• The lines at the intersections are perpendicular, at least up to twenty (20) centimeters.

• For testing of the Robot Athletes before the start of the Competition, there will be trial rounds, where the Technicians will have access for a specific time period and according to a schedule that will be announced on the day of the competition.

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⏱️ PREPARATION

• The Technician who will run the round, places the Robot Athlete at the starting point, before the time control sensor.

• The Robot Athlete must be in standby mode, ready to start as soon as the start button is pressed or the button on the remote control is activated.

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🏁 START – RACE PROCEDURE

• The Technician of the Robot Athlete starts the Robot Athlete after the referee’s whistle, by pressing the Start button.
  The timer begins when the Robot Athlete passes in front of the time control sensor.

• The Robot Athlete must start within the next 5 seconds.

• If a Robot Athlete does not start within that time, the referee will allow only one restart.
  ➤ This will apply only to the first attempt.

• The Robot Athlete must begin moving as quickly as possible, following the black line.

• The goal of the Robot Athlete is to finish the course in the shortest possible time.

• If a Robot Athlete exceeds 3 minutes, the referee ends the round with a whistle and the time is recorded as 180 seconds (0 points).

• The Robot Athlete (or any part of it) is not allowed to exit the boundaries of the arena.
  ➤ If this happens, the attempt is considered failed.

• The robot is allowed to leave the track for a maximum of 3 seconds during the run
  (e.g., when making a turn or zigzagging while following the line).
  However, the robot must continue to follow the line in the correct direction.
  ➤ If the robot completely exits the track or loses its direction, the attempt is invalid.

• If the track is larger than the dimensions described in the previous section, the expected time will be increased.

• The Robot Athlete must, throughout the course, cover the line with its body (with minor exceptions in turns) and follow it using sensors placed in a central position on the robot, reading directly above or exactly next to the line (for the basic category).
  ➤ If, in the Basic category, navigation is not clearly based on line detection in this manner, the attempt is considered invalid and a time of zero (0) is recorded.

• If the Robot Athlete fails to start, the time is recorded as 180 seconds (0).

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🔁 ROUNDS – ATTEMPTS - COMPETITION PROCEDURE

• The duration of the sport is 90 minutes.
  (This time may be extended depending on the number of participants).
  During this time, each Robot Athlete will make repeated attempts on the track, according to the order announced by the organizing committee.

• If a Technician is not present when it is their turn, they lose their attempt, and the next Technician in line will proceed.
  ➤ The Technician who missed their turn must wait until all other attempts are completed for their turn to come again.

• Before each attempt, the Robot Athlete must pass a secondary technical inspection conducted by the assistant referee.

• The referee records the time of the Robot Athletes for each attempt.

• It is the responsibility of the Robot Athlete’s team to ensure that they perform each attempt within the allocated time window.

• Between attempts, teams are allowed to make corrections to their Robot Athletes and their code/algorithm,
  ➤ however, no testing is allowed.

• After the 90-minute period has ended, the Best of the Best – Final Stability Round (Top-8) will follow:
  ➤ The top 8 of the overall ranking will compete in a second round, paired as follows: 1st–8th, 2nd–7th, 3rd–6th, 4th–5th. The races will take place on the same track and under the same conditions as the initial round, with the purpose of evaluating the stability and reliability of the robots. Two tracks will be used in parallel for this purpose. Each Robot Athlete will compete on a separate track.
  ➤ In the event of a failure to start by a Robot Athlete, only one restart will be granted by the referee.
  ➤ The time achieved in this trial will be the final time of the robot and will determine the victory.

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❌ END OF A ROUND

A round ends in the following cases:

• When the Robot Athlete passes in front of the time control sensor.

• If the Robot Athlete exits the boundaries of the arena.

• If the Robot Athlete loses the line.

• If the Robot Athlete becomes immobilized for any reason.

• If the Robot Athlete exceeds the 3-minute time limit.

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🟥 TEAM DISQUALIFICATION

A team is disqualified from the event and must withdraw in the following cases:
➤ The team’s results will not be taken into account and will not appear in the official competition rankings.

• If a Robot Athlete does not comply with the specifications defined in the sport’s rules and the team refuses to make the required adjustments.

• If any of the Technicians behave inappropriately or disrespectfully, use offensive language, provoke, or verbally (or otherwise) attack fellow participants or referees.

• If it is discovered that a Robot Athlete is not operating autonomously, but instead is being remotely controlled via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or any similar technology.

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✅ ALLOWED / ❌ PROHIBITED

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✅ Allowed:

• Cleaning the wheels of the Robot Athlete only with wet cleaning cloths or cleaning liquid and paper.

• The use of a remote control ONLY to start the robot in the Open category.

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❌ Prohibited:

• Robot Athletes using parts or components that could harm other competitors.

• The use of glue to increase traction, including:

          ➤ Cleaning wheels with adhesive tapes that may leave glue residue.

          ➤ The use of suction cups.

          ➤ Any adhesion method that violates the regulations.

• Tires or parts of the robot that come into contact with the field must not be able to lift and hold a standard A4 sheet of paper (80 g/m²) for more than two (2) seconds.

• The use of gases (in any form, such as canisters) to increase speed.

• The robot breaking or falling apart into pieces during the match.
      ➤ Even if it finishes, the time is recorded as 180 seconds (0).

• Connecting the robot to external electronic devices (e.g. computers, smartphones, tablets) via:

          ➤ Bluetooth
          ➤ Wi-Fi
          ➤ Any other wireless technology

• The use of pneumatic systems in any robot category.

• The use of pullback motors in any robot category.

• Expanding the dimensions of the robot during the match (mechanically or actively).

• Any additional prohibitions are listed in the Robot Athlete Requirements & Specifications section.

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🏆 WINNERS

At the end of the sport, the winners are announced separately for each age category, as well as for the Marathon Basic and Marathon Advanced categories:

🥇 1st Place
🥈 2nd Place
🥉 3rd Place

🏁 The ranking is determined based on the shortest time achieved by the Robot Athletes at the Best of the Best round.

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➤ In Adnvanced category if a team has registered more than one robot and attains placements in more than one position (e.g., 1st and 3rd), it may retain only the highest position. The remaining positions are awarded to the next teams in order, based on the overall ranking.