Students from Agrupamento Raul Proença take Portugal to World Robot Olympiad 2024

The Programming and Robotics Club of Agrupamento de Escolas Raul Proença, in Caldas da Rainha, took part in the World Robot Olympiad (WRO 2024), held from 26 November to 1 December in Izmir, Turkey. The team represented Portugal in the Robot Mission – Junior category, competing among the best in the world.

The World Robot Olympiad (WRO) is an international robotics competition that aims to inspire young people around the world to explore and develop skills in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Created in 2004, the WRO promotes creative problem solving through challenges in different categories, such as Robot Mission, Future Innovators and Robot Sports. More than a competition, the event is a multicultural meeting point where students collaborate, learn and share enriching experiences, preparing themselves for future challenges.

The competition brought together 1,059 teams from around 85 countries, standing out as a major event on the global educational robotics scene. In the Robot Mission trial, 400 teams took part, 114 of them in the Junior level.

The Robot Mission trial challenges teams to design and program fully autonomous robots to solve challenges on a competition mat. The missions are renewed annually and include tasks such as moving objects, overcoming obstacles and solving problems that simulate real situations. During the competition, a "surprise rule" is introduced to test the teams' creativity and ability to think quickly. This format promotes the development of skills in programming, engineering, computational thinking, teamwork and problem solving.

Despite strong competition, the Caldas da Rainha team achieved a meritorious 69th place in its category. This result is particularly significant, considering that it was the team's first experience in an international competition.

During the event, our team had the opportunity to share experiences with Agrupamento de Escolas de São Gonçalo, from Torres Vedras, which also represented Portugal in the competition. Competing in the Future Engineers and Future Innovators categories, the Torres Vedras team, more experienced in international events, contributed to moments of learning and knowledge exchange that further enriched our experience.

The event stood out as a unique opportunity to experience multiculturalism and share enriching moments with participants from all over the world. Many teams exchanged mementos, symbolising the spirit of cooperation and the building of bridges between cultures.

This project received fundamental support from the companies INM - Innovation Makers and Evoparts, as well as from Município das Caldas da Rainha. Sponsorship from these organisations was essential to make participation in this prestigious international event possible; without it, the team's presence would not have been viable.

Portuguese participation in the WRO also benefited from national organisation and coordination by ANPRI – Associação Nacional de Professores de Informática. Responsible for driving this initiative in Portugal, ANPRI played an important role in supporting the teams, promoting the involvement of students and teachers in educational robotics challenges and encouraging the development of STEM skills.

Beyond the competition, the trip gave our students the opportunity to discover the cultural richness of Turkey, with a highlight on the city of Izmir. Among the tourist sites visited were the iconic Clock Tower and the bustling Kemeralti Bazaar, experiences that made this trip even more enriching and memorable.

Agrupamento de Escolas Raul Proença continues to invest in training its students in technological and innovative fields, reinforcing its commitment to developing the skills of the future. Congratulations to the participating students and to everyone who contributed to this achievement!