[yreg]

We have an autonomous robotics competition (established in 2000) in Bratislava called Istrobot. There are two brackets, one for LEGO robots (mainly for children) and another one for "more serious" robots.

Micromouse is one of the categories. It is pretty difficult to do with LEGO, we've tried and always failed. The main problem is that the stepper motors are not precise enough to turn 90 degrees and the error accumulates. We've even tried using a LEGO magnetometer, but it wasn't precise enough.

The other categories are easier in my opinion:

- Pathfinder: The robot has to follow a drawn line. The line is interrupted in some places, there is a tunnel and there can be obstacles -> in case of obstacles the robot needs to leave the line, avoid the obstacle and find the line again.

- Sumo: Two robots start in a drawn circle, once one of them leaves the circle the other one wins. There is a limit on mass and dimensions.

(There are some new categories as well, but I have never competed in/watched those.)

The competition is pretty great at engaging young kids in programming.