Takeshi's Bots: Robo Maze

Takeshi's Bots is a fully autonomous maze-navigation challenge that tests a robot's accuracy, sensing, path planning, and decision-making. Robots must independently navigate a covered 3 × 3 m maze, overcome dead ends, and reach the centrally located finish without any human or remote intervention. With 3 attempts and a 5-minute limit per run, the fastest successful robot conquers the castle. "Navigate. Survive. Conquer the Castle." Details: Category: Accuracy(fully autonomous) Duration: 2 Hours Date: 17th October 2026 Time: 12:00 PM Venue: Guru Tegh Bahadur Institute of Technology Mode: Offline Team Size: 3-5 participants No. of rounds: 3 attempts per team (best valid time to be considered) Eligibility Criteria: Open to all students Inter-college participants allowed. Pre-requisites: Competition-ready robot complying with the specs below: 20x20x15 cm, max 48V DC, fully autonomous — no remote/human control during official run (only onboard sensing: ultrasonic, IR, ToF, LiDAR, cameras, encoders, IMU, etc.) Event Flow: 3 attempts per team, max 5 minutes per attempt; best valid completion time counts Failure to reach FINISH within 5 minutes = DNF Tie-breaker: one-on-one additional run, lower valid time wins Organisers install an external monitoring device (min. 8x8 cm mounting area) on each robot before every attempt. Rules & Regulations: Arena: square 300x300 cm, 25 cm outer wall height, 35 cm corridor width, covered from top; FINISH at centre. No inspecting/photographing/recording the maze before or during the official attempt Slight/incidental wall contact allowed; forceful/repeated contact altering the maze layout = violation, may DQ the attempt DQ if robot knocks down a wall, breaks maze sections, opens an unintended route, or damages the maze Deliberate human intervention during a run → DQ; robot simply failing on its own → DNF Teams must not obstruct, modify, disconnect, or interfere with the organiser's monitoring device