Season Timeline
2024 Game Overview
Wacky Robot Races
Inspired by the 1968 Hanna-Barbera Productions series Wacky Races
Teams design their livery, put on their racing suits, and build a Wacky Racer with your LEGO® robotics kit! Their Racer will drive three laps around the playing field, fighting to reach the finish line before its opponent. To help the Team finish first, maybe they will apply some Wacky tricks to slow down their opponents!
Game-Specific Resources
For the 2024 season, additional Game Resources will be provided to registered Regional Directors and Coaches only. Please log in to the Unified Robotics Portal to access these resources.
Equipment & Software
LEGO SPIKE Prime
Hardware
Each team is required to have one SPIKE Prime kit and one PC or tablet. To promote fairness between all teams and regions, teams are only allowed to use electronic components included in the kit as advertised.
Programming
SPIKE Prime users have the versatility of programming their robot on Windows, macOS, iPadOS, Android, and Chromebooks. More information on how to download or access the app can be found on LEGO Education.
Using the SPIKE App, teams can choose to use Icon Blocks, Word Blocks, or Python to program their robot. However, Icon Blocks may be limiting to teams in order to program for the requirements for Unified Robotics.
LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3
The LEGO MINDSTORMS platform has been retired. However, Unified Robotics is still supporting the MINDSTORMS platform as many schools still use them.
Hardware
Each team is required to have one MINDSTORMS EV3 Core kit and one PC or tablet. LEGO offers a Home set and an Education set. Unified Robotics requires the Education set as it includes an Ultrasonic Sensor instead of a Infrared Sensor.
To promote fairness between all teams and regions, teams are only allowed to use electronic components included in the kit as advertised. Additionally, the EV3 Infrared Sensor is not allowed for Unified Robotics.
Programming
MINDSTORMS EV3 users require the EV3 Classroom app to program their robots, which is only supported on Windows and macOS. More information on how to download or access the app can be found on LEGO Education.
Using the EV3 Classroom App, teams can use Word Blocks to program their robot. Teams may elect to download Python for EV3 as an advanced alternative to Word Blocks.
Please note that the legacy EV3 Lab Edition software is no longer supported by LEGO Education.
Why LEGO® Robotics Kits?
Unified Robotics is intended to make robotics a place for everyone to get an opportunity to thrive in the world of robotics and it is critical that our choice of robotics platform fit that mission. The decision to run on LEGO Robotics platforms is one that has not been taken lightly.
LEGO makes their platforms easy to use, with a wide depth of technical capability. This allows a very broad range of students access to directly use and work with these platforms. The ease of learning also applies to teachers, Coaches, and volunteers who may not have existing Robotics experience. The LEGO platforms are cost effective, lowering the barrier to entry and allowing more Teams, Schools, and organizations the ability to participate. Finally, LEGO products are tested and trusted. Numerous education, hobbyist, and general public projects use LEGO kits and products, creating many online resources for building and programming, and ensuring that these robots will perform as expected at the competitions.
Note: Unified Robotics is not affiliated with the LEGO Group
