RAT Open Awards
Every RAT Open event presents these judged awards — they recognise the whole engineering journey, not just the scoreboard. Each game also crowns its own champions; see that game’s manual for its performance awards.
Robot Autonomous Champion
Best overall performance in the autonomous challenge — the ranking champion of the game, decided by the scoreboard.
Engineering Excellence
Best integration of mechanics, electronics, and coding.
Best Build
Exceptional mechanical and structural design.
Innovative Design
Unique and creative problem-solving in robot design.
Forward-Thinking Design
Innovative ideas that push engineering and coding boundaries.
Best Use of Sensors
Effective application of sensors for autonomous navigation.
Best Problem-Solving Team
The team that overcomes major obstacles during the event.
Resilience Award
Persistence and adaptability under pressure.
Best Carer Sharer
The team that exemplifies collaboration and support for others.
Most Creative
Out-of-the-box thinking in robot functionality and aesthetics.
What the judges will ask
Bring the robot. Everyone on the team should be ready to talk about their own part.
Show us your robot
- “Show us your robot. What does each part do?”
- “What can your robot sense?”
- “Talk us through what your program does from the start of a run.”
- “Tell us about a time a change to the robot meant changing the code, or the other way round.”
- “What's the one thing on this robot that's YOUR idea?”
What happened today
- “What was the biggest thing that went wrong today?”
- “What have you changed since you arrived this morning?”
- “What do you know now that you didn't this morning?”
- “If you had one more hour, what would you do?”
Your team
- “Who did what on this robot?”
- “Who did you help today?”
- “How did you feel after your worst run? What did you do next?”