ECER 2024
ECER – European Conference on Educational Robotics
The European Conference on Educational Robotics (ECER) is an international scientific conference for students. Researchers present their findings in engaging talks, show their robots live, and partake as judges in exciting robot competitions, including the official European Regional Botball Competition, the ECER Open competition and for the first time in Europe the Junior Botball Challenge. Participating teams give scientific talks about their robots, projects and experiences in English.
Engaging students in Robotics and Science.
What you should know
Competitions
Botball
You have already participated in competitions and maybe even have a team with which you can work well together? Then the Botball competition is exactly the right competition for you. Of course, you can also participate in the Botball competition as a new and less experienced team.
Botball is a non-destructive and team-oriented robotics competition that offers equal opportunities to each team. For this purpose, each team receives a defined robotics set consisting of metal and Lego parts, sensors and actuators, two controllers and a standard vacuum cleaner robot. The competition task is redesigned each year and is not released until the two-day workshop at the beginning of the Botball season. This gives each team an equal amount of time to develop strategies and robots. Special emphasis is placed on planning, documentation and quality of the technical solution. Besides winning the competition, special awards are granted for best programming, best mechanical engineering and best documentation. Team-oriented, exciting, fair!
All information about the official Botball tournament are available to teams at www.kipr.org/botball.
The game will be released in January, for a rough estimate of what tasks you might face, you can find all the documents from last year here. Register now!
Junior Botball Challenge
This interactive program was developed to teach STEM fundamentals and help students of all levels achieve subject mastery through engaging and exciting hands on robotics activities! The JBC curriculum was developed by teachers for teachers and the KISS Institute provides all educators with professional development to help ensure the successful integration of this STEM education opportunity.
More information can be found at https://www.kipr.org/jr-botball. Register now!
Open
Do you have little or no competition experience, but would like to be part of a competition event? Maybe you already have a robot set and a few friends who think like you? Or you just don’t want to be limited to a given set and want to live out your creativity freely?
The OPEN competition is designed for anyone who wants to try robotics and learn something new! Unlike Botball, there are no restrictions on the components used here, provided they are not too expensive. This means no extensive kit is necessary, just the parts you actually want to use. In the OPEN competition, apart from the allowed materials, the same rules apply as in the Botball competition.
The game will be released in January, for a rough estimate of what tasks you might face, you can find all the documents from last year here. Register now!
Aerial Junior Competition
If you are interested in flying robots, then this is the right challenge for you. Master the navigation of an autonomous drone in 3-dimensional space in this beginner-friendly competition organized in cooperation with robo4you. The Junior Aerial Competition is tailored to the affordable DJI Tello EDU Drone.
The game will be released in January, and there will be an introductory showcase at our January workshop in Vienna. Register now!
Talks
Call for Papers & Keynotes
Apart from robotics competitions, research is a fundamental part of ECER! Every year, we invite established researchers to shed light on recent advances in robotics and related fields. Furthermore, our Call for Papers invites everyone, including students, to present their experiences in a paper, or even give a talk at the conference. The Call for Papers is published in January.
Timeline
Any questions?
FAQ
Who can take part?
Depending on the tournament:
ECER Open/Junior Aerial: here you can participate with your family, friends, schoolmates, etc. without age restrictions. The Junior Aerial competition is aimed at robotics beginners with little or no experience.
Botball: high school students (~13-19) can participate in groups of ~3-7 people.
Junior Botball: middle school students (~10-16) can participate in groups of ~3-7 people.
Until when can I register?
If you want to take part in the Botball competition, registration is necessary by December 22 2023 at the latest because the equipment needs to be shipped from the USA. For the ECER Open competition and the Junior Aerial, you can still register afterwards.
What does the participation cost?
The conference itself is free of charge, but you will need equipment for participating in the different tournaments.
Botball: the purchase of an official Botball set is necessary. If you already have a set from the previous year, you can reuse most of the equipment for a lower price. Contact us at ecer@pria.at for an order form and support in finding the right option for you.
Junior Botball: you can contact one of our partner schools to borrow a Junior Botball set.
ECER Open: you have to organize your own robotics kit of choice.
Junior Aerial: a DJI Tello EDU drone is necessary for participating. Contact our Partner robo4you if you need help getting one.
Accommodation and food must also be organized by yourself.
I would like to know how such a contest could look like?
On this page you can find all the documents for ECER 2023, there you can already get an idea of how the competitions will proceed and what tasks you can expect. The official documents for ECER 2024 will be available from January 2024.
When will the game documents and Call for Papers be put online?
Both will be put online in January 2024.
I have a question that has not been answered here.
Simply contact us at ecer@pria.at or on Discord. We will be happy to help you!
Contact & Impressum
Impressum
Practical Robotics Institute Austria
Verein zur Förderung des wissenschaftlich-technischen Nachwuchses durch Robotik
Wexstraße 19-23
A-1200 Wien, Österreich
Raum H128 (1.Stock)
Telefon: +43 1 33 126-361
E-Mail: ecer@pria.at
ZVR-Zahl: 250022837
Obmann: Dr. Gottfried Koppensteiner
Geschäftsführer: Dr. Wilfried Lepuschitz