RuralBots Open Championship: first edition, first success
Photo: Theodora Gorovei
On June 20, 2026, the gym of the "Constantin Brâncoveanu" Junior High School in Vasilați became, for one day, the place where educational robotics, the emotions of a real competition and the joy of children working together met under the name RuralBots Open Championship.
The first edition of the competition brought 17 teams and 82 children from Călărași, Buzău and Bucharest counties to Vasilați, in an event built by ARTESA as part of the RuralBots Initiative, the project through which we aim to bring STEM education closer to children from rural communities and offer them real contexts in which they can discover technology, robotics, teamwork and confidence in their own ideas.
The RuralBots Open Championship was born from a simple belief: every child deserves to discover technology through hands-on experiences, no matter where they live. That's why it was important for us that the first edition be a national competition, but organized in a rural community, in Vasilați.
The RuralBots Open Championship was not built as just another robotics competition. It was designed as a competition where the team matters but where each child has a real role in the process.
The rules were designed so that participation does not just mean being on the team roster, but actual involvement, controlling the robot, making decisions, contributing to the strategy and taking ownership of the result. We wanted every child to feel like they are part of the team's story, because a real team is not one or two children who do everything while the others watch, but different children, with different ideas and skills, who learn to work together.
This was evident during the rounds, in the way the children consulted, encouraged each other, tried, made mistakes, fixed things and moved on. On the field there were robots and missions, but around the field there were decisions, emotions, collaboration, strategy and a lot of work carried out to the end.
The RuralBots Open Championship had rankings, points, medals, and trophies. At the end, there was a champion team, a runner-up team, and a third-place team.
But an educational competition cannot be reduced to just the podium.
That is why, in addition to the rankings, awards were given that recognized concentration, strategy, initiative, perseverance, team spirit and fair play.
How a team reacts when the robot doesn't do what it was programmed to do says as much about a team as a perfect round.
The scoring system was designed so that the final result reflects the team's progress throughout the entire competition, not just one very good round. We wanted the score to reward not only the moment of inspiration, but especially the consistency, adaptability and sustained work throughout all rounds.
The proof? The champions didn't have the best time, but they achieved maximum points in all three rounds.
Another important element of the competition was the system for displaying results in real time, after the end and validation of each round. We knew, from the design stage, how high the emotions of children are during a competition and how much it matters to them to know how they are doing, not to wait until the end to find out what happened.
The reactions after the competition confirmed that this choice mattered. One coach told us that his students "felt amazing" and appreciated being able to follow the evolution of the scores live, in a setting that they felt was transparent and fair.
For us, this was one of the most important confirmations of the day, the fact that transparency is not just a technical detail, but an essential part of the way children experience a competition.
The RuralBots Open Championship was not an easy competition, and this was said by the participants themselves.
The children felt the challenge, went through better rounds and harder rounds, had moments when the robot did exactly what it was supposed to do and moments when it had to quickly find a solution.
That's why the success of the first edition does not lie only in the number of teams or the final scores, but in the fact that 82 children experienced a real competition, with rules, pressure, strategy, responsibility and the joy of presenting their work in front of others.
After the event, a coach told us that the students considered the RuralBots Open Championship one of the best competitions they had participated in, but also a tough one.
For us, this combination says a lot.
A good educational competition must be friendly but not superficial, accessible but not unchallenging, built for kids but serious enough to show them that their work matters.
The RuralBots Open Championship wasn't just about missions and points, it was also about community.
There were children who exchanged contacts with other children, coaches who appreciated the organization, satisfied parents, referees and volunteers who made things work, people who helped before, during and after the competition.
An event like this is not only built from regulations, a playing field and a program. It is also built from the trust of those who host it, from the support of those who believe in it, from the work of those who prepare the hall, move the furniture, check the spaces, help the children, referee the rounds and solve the little things that are not always visible, but without which nothing would work.
We thank the director Iulia Stoica and the "Constantin Brâncoveanu" Junior High School in Vasilați, partners from the beginning of the story that brought robotics to Vasilați, the mayor Cristian Vasile, for the support given to our projects, the mayor of Mitreni commune, Ciprian Panait, and the director Mihaela Cristea, for the openness with which they made it possible for so many children from their community to be part of this competition.
You have immense potential and I believe that from year to year it will be an extraordinary competition.Alina Amza, coach
We take this phrase as a confirmation, but also as a responsibility. The first edition of the RuralBots Open Championship was a success. Not everything was perfect, but we showed that a national educational robotics competition can be successfully organized in a rural community, that primary school students can experience serious competition, built for their age, and that robotics can bring together children, teachers, parents, volunteers, local authorities and people who believe in education.
We also thank the guests who trusted us and that we could organize a competition of such magnitude, having the courage to come from far away to participate in the first edition of a robotics competition organized in a village in Romania.
We also thank the referees, volunteers, coaches, parents and everyone who was with the children.
A special mention deserves the students from grades 5 to 8, children who have been participating in robotics activities since the first workshops and who, at this competition, assumed the responsibility of refereeing and contributing to the smooth running of the event.
For us, this is one of the most beautiful signs that what we build grows with them.
Together, we build a better world.