Two Deutsche Schule Pretoria Robotics Teams
invited to an International Robotics Competition
Four learners of two South African robotics teams from the DSP (German School Pretoria)
will be competing at the World Robot Olympiad in Sochi, Russia, during November 2014.
This robotic competition of the World Robot Olympiad or WRO (www.wro2014.org) brings together youth
from all over the world to interact and compete with each other. For the past years the learners at the DSP
have significantly improved their skills in building and programming LEGO robots . These four learners won their
categories in the national league of the WRO and were selected to represent South Africa at the international
robotics competition. We are seeking funding for the four learners and their supporting team.
1. Two teams, two challenges
The two teams are competing in two separate categories. One team is participating in the robotic soccer
challenge, the other in the simulating satellites challenge.
Robotic soccer
We have all witnessed a soccer game, but have you
ever seen robots playing soccer? Two learners from
the German School Pretoria, Heiko (17) and Thomas
H. (15), have built a robotic soccer team consisting of
one striker and one goalie that play autonomously
(i.e. without remote control) against another team of
robots. Their robotic soccer team T2H will play against
other soccer teams from all over the world. This team
has spent many months designing and building their
complex LEGO NXT robots. They programmed the robots using inputs from a compass sensor, infrared
sensor, touch sensor and light sensor to orient their
robots on the playing field, to detect the ball, and
then to either kick goals or defend the own goal.
Simulating satellites
Much of our communication these days relies on orbiting satellites. But what do you do when you have
to retrieve malfunctioning satellites orbiting around
the earth? Thomas K. (15) and Jaehyun (13) have designed a robot that follows an elliptic orbit to collect
specific space debris, transport and deliver it to a repair factory, and bypass all the functioning satellites.
This is the challenge of the Junior High category of the
WRO 2014 competition. Their team CTRL+C was also
invited to participate in the international competition
in Russia in November this year.
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Two teams from the DSP to represent South Africa
The two teams from the Deutsche Schule Pretoria qualified to represent South Africa at the 2014 WRO in
Sochi. The two teams will be accompanied by three supporting adults:
Team name
CTRL+C
T 2H
WRO Category
Regular,
Junior High
Name
Thomas Kabutz
Role
robotics team member
Jaehyun Kim
robotics team member
Gen II Soccer
Heiko Kabutz
robotics team member
Thomas Hettasch
robotics team member
Warren Markley
Karin Kabutz
Rachel Kim
mentor & coach
mentor & coach
logistical support
Supporting team
The Deutsche Schule Pretoria is growing significantly in enabling learners to participate
in robotics activities. Learners from grade 3
onwards are encouraged to participate. The
group has grown from around 10 learners
participating in competitions in 2011 to over
50 learners participating in 2014.
50
Number of ...
2. DSP stimulating
robotics activities
Growth of DSP Robotics participation
60
40
learners
30
teams
categories
20
competitions
10
0
2011
2012
2013
2014
Motivation for participating at the WRO 2014
Why would the robotics teams want to participate in the global event in Sochi, Russia? One objective for
participating at the World Robot Olympiad is to gain experience from the international leagues of robotics
competitions and bring the lessons learnt back to South Africa. In addition to having fun with building and
preparing the robots to successfully accomplish their tasks, the learners will gain deeper insight into the
building and programming skills of teams from around the globe that will raise the level of robotics skills.
Also the youth are learning to cope with the difficulty of high levels of pressure at the competitions.
Therefore the participants will become better prepared for local and international competitions in subsequent years.
The DSP team members that have taken part in a
previous international competition have assisted
other South African teams in their preparation for
international competitions. So their international experience has been a benefit to the robotics learners
from other teams.
In addition, the learners will be able to forge relationships and build friendships with like-minded
youth from other countries. Over the past years the
DSP learner have nurtured close international collaboration with teams from Germany, India and Latin
America.
As a result increasing excitement is being created for
robotics at the DSP and beyond into the year 2015.
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Itinerary
The DSP robotics team will travel from Johannesburg via Dubai and Moscow to the Olympic Village in Sochi, taking sufficient time for the learners to acclimatise in the venue for the competition:
Tuesday,
Wednesday,
Thursday,
Friday,
Saturday,
Sunday,
Monday,
Tuesday,
18 November:
19 November:
20 November:
21 November:
22 November:
23 November:
24 November:
25 November:
leave from Johannesburg via Dubai and Moscow
arrive in Adler, Sochi
acclimatisation day
Robotics practice day
World Robot Olympiad competition
WRO prize giving
travel back via Moscow and Dubai
arrive in Johannesburg, South Africa
Funding required to compete internationally
All teams have to find their own sponsorship to be able to compete in the 2014 WRO. Funding is needed
for the following and equates to an estimated amount of R 25,000 per participating team member plus
the costs of the supporting team members:
Item
Costs (ZAR)
Visa applications
R 7 000
Flight & local travel costs
R 75 600
Participation fee at WRO
R 10 400
Additional accommodation & meals
R 28 000
Communication & media
R 2 000
Travel insurance
R 7 000
Total costs =
R 130 000
Funds already received =
R 65 000
Remaining funds needed =
R 65 000
The Deutsche Schule Pretoria fully endorses these teams participating at this international event. The robotics teams need the financial support of individuals and organisations in their ambition to travel to and
participate in the robotics competition. So far the team has already received 50% of the funds, so only
R 65 000 remain for funding to enable participation in the WRO competition.
School leadership supporting robotics
The leadership of the German School in Pretoria is
proud of the four learners of the two robotics teams
that have been invited to represent South Africa at
this international robotics competition in Sochi, Russia. They anticipate that these learners will represent
their home country well and that they will bring
great experience in international-level robotics back
to South Africa. Their contribution towards furthering technical skills development and team growth for
problem solving will further the growth of robotics
amongst learners both in their school and the wider
environment in South Africa.
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3. What is the “WRO”?
The World Robot Olympiad is a global LEGO Robotics competition. It is an event that brings young
people from all over the world together. This event
combines the world of science, engineering, technology and education. Teams of youngsters get the
opportunity to develop their creative and problem
solving skills through various robotics challenges.
The Olympiad started in 2004 and was presented
for the first time in Singapore. Currently 35 countries with almost 16,000 teams are participating in this
event. Each participating country has its own competition and the best teams of each country are invited
to attend and compete at the World Robot Olympiad.
Objectives of the WRO
Engineering, science and technology are fast developing fields of study. A vast amount of future jobs and
careers in these fields do not exist at this time. Although the youngsters cannot yet train and get ready
for these future jobs and careers, they can develop their problem solving, creative thinking and innovative skills and attitudes. The World Robot Olympiad is an event that aims to develop these skills and attitudes and prepare the youngsters for their future careers.
What is the format of the Olympiad?
The Olympiad consists of the following categories:
 A regular category – The fastest robot
through an obstacle course
 A second generation football competition
 An open category – A robot representing a
specific theme
The two DSP teams of 2014 will be competing in the
regular and the football categories in Sochi, Russia.
A second generation football competition
This is a football competition played by two teams consisting of two autonomous robot players each. The
game consists of two ten minute halves. Teams will play all the other teams at least twice and then according to number of wins, goals for and goals against teams will compete in a knock-out competition.
The team with the highest number of goals at the end is the winning team. There are restrictions on the
electronic components, the size of the robot and the software that can be used for programming.
Regular category – Fastest robot
through an obstacle course
The objective of this category is for teams to strategize, design and build a robot that is able to complete tasks successfully while negotiating through
an obstacle course. Each successfully completed
task has a score value and the team with the highest
score and the shortest time will be crowned as the
winner.
Teams can design, build and program their robots
before the event. They can have unlimited test runs
in their preparation for the competition. However
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on the day of the competition the robot has to be
built from scratch without any building instructions.
Teams are allowed to download and use programs
they have developed prior to the competition.
The competition consists of three rounds. The best
score of the three rounds will determine the winning
team. If two or more teams have the same score the
shortest time will prevail.
Why is LEGO used?
It simply evens the playfield for all teams. Teams
then compete on their ability to strategize, design, build and program a robot that is able to complete
tasks successfully in the time available. Robots can be built from any unmodified LEGO components from
LEGO educational range of products. There is a limitation on the controller as well as the various electronic components that can be used. Programming of the controller can only be done in NXT-G or Robolab
programming languages.
Who is part of a robotic team?
The robotic teams of contestants work with coaches and mentors to prepare them for the competitions.
 A team consists of 1 coach and 2 or 3 contestants.
 The minimum age to be a coach is 20 years old.
 Coaches can be teachers, parents, other family members or friends.
Five year plan for WRO in South Africa

Raise the standard of robotics education in
South Africa
 Invest and develop coaches and mentors that
are hosting and running robotics clubs at
school, science centres, and community centres
 Increase the number of teams participating in
WRO activities to over 1000 collectively in all
provinces
 Hosting the international WRO event in South
Africa in 2017 or 2018
How do teams qualify for the World Robot Olympiad ?
The preparation of the South African leg of the WRO of 2014 took place during the first six months of the
year. The actual Regional Gauteng competition took place during July, with the South African national
competition at the end of August 2014. The six teams that were invited to the WRO to represent South
Africa will compete against the best teams from all over the world. At the international event there are
between 350 and 400 teams that compete every year.
The WRO event this year will be hosted in the Olympic city of Sochi, Russia, from the 21 st to the 23rd of November 2014.
Interaction and Internet presence
The two robotics teams will appreciate interacting with you to further improve their robotic strategies.
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Updates on the Gen II soccer league are available at: www.facebook.com/T2Hrobotics
On plus.google.com search for the robotics team at: “Ctrl+C Robotics”
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Warren Markley (DSP team coach),
[email protected], +27 79 802 2112
Rudolf Kabutz (Robotics team support), [email protected],
+27 82 865 6767
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