RAT Open - Helter Skelter + RAT Run

RAT Open 2026 – Helter Skelter V2 and RAT Run

A 100% Student-Powered Robotics Challenge

The RAT Open returns on May 16th, 2026, featuring two exciting autonomous robotics competitions designed to challenge engineering skills, creativity, and strategic thinking. Open to students aged 7–18, the RAT Open is fully student-centered—teams may use any robotics platform and develop their own unique solutions.

Team & Robot Requirements

For 2026, teams are encouraged to compete in both Helter Skelter V2 and RAT Run, and the event requires two separate robots, one for each challenge.

Schools may participate in one of three ways:

• One team competing in both challenges using two robots, or
• Two teams from the same school, with each team focusing on one challenge, or
• Multiple teams entering either or both competitions.

The entry fee is the same whether teams compete in one challenge or both.

Helter Skelter V2

Divisions:

• Ages 7–12: 24 teams
• Ages 13–18: 14 teams

Helter Skelter returns with a fresh Version 2 upgrade. Robots must autonomously navigate the towering spiral structure—ascending to the top, completing a new challenge zone, and for the first time ever, returning safely to the bottom. Expect upgraded obstacles, refined scoring, and an elevated test of mechanical precision and design.

Full game release: 6 weeks before competition day.

Last season's Helter Skelter - Updated V2 of the game will be released 6 weeks prior to the event with new obstacles and challenges on the Helter Skelter structure.

RAT Run – Brand-New for 2026

RAT Run introduces a completely new experience: a long, narrow course packed with dynamic and unpredictable obstacles. Robots must demonstrate precision path planning, tight corridor navigation, and real-time avoidance of moving hazards.

Robots will need to:

• Stay on a narrow, obstacle-laden path
• Avoid active hazards like swinging bars and moving balls
• Reach the end without crashing to maximize points
• Earn bonus points for each obstacle successfully passed
• Use optional manual resets or skip sections—at a cost to total score
• Complete in a driver control version of the event, which equates to 30% of your final school for RAT Run plus an autonomous run, which counts for 70% of your final score

Full game release: August 15th, 2026 - 6 weeks before competition day.

Sample CAD of the current RAT Run—game details are to be released 6 weeks prior to the event.

Why RAT Events?

• 100% student-centered engineering
• Open-platform robotics—build however you want
• Two exciting autonomous challenges
• 40 total team slots
• Designed to develop real-world problem-solving and robotics skills