Botball · Junior Botball · Open · Aerial Junior · Aerial Senior · Papers & Talks
Build. Program. Score.
ECER is built around autonomous systems. Your team prepares the robot or drone, then the code has to do the work when the run begins.
- Build: Turn the season challenge into a robot, mechanism or flight system your team designed.
- Program: Write the code that lets the robot sense, decide and act without a driver.
- Score: Complete missions under time pressure. Judges record points and teams improve between rounds.
Botball
Build and program two robots from the standardized Botball kit. When a match starts, the robots run entirely on student-written code. There are no drivers or remote controls. Sensors and cameras help the robots navigate the table, move game pieces and score points.
Botball also offers the opportunity to attend GCER, the world championship in the USA. Every team starts with the same core equipment, but strategy, mechanisms and programming are entirely up to the students.
| Practical detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Equipment | Standard Botball kit |
| Approximate cost | €2,200 for new teams; €600 for returning teams, plus a practice board |
| Registration deadline | See the season page |
| Rules and game release | See the season page |
For Botball and Open, a practice board is necessary for tournament preparation.
Awards go beyond winning: best programming, mechanical design, documentation and more. See the full Botball tournament information and last season’s documents.
Junior Botball
A supported first step into autonomous robotics. Students build and program a robot to complete missions and score points, with activities designed to teach coding and the engineering process as they go.
KIPR allows several autonomous platforms in its wider Junior Botball programme. ECER equipment loans and the exact hardware rules will be confirmed with the season documents. If your team owns LEGO SPIKE or another robot kit, or needs to borrow equipment, contact us before buying anything.
| Practical detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Equipment | Compatible robot kit |
| Approximate cost | €650 for hardware; loans through partner schools and reuse possible |
| Registration deadline | March |
| Rules | Practice exercises available to registered teams; competition exercises announced at ECER |
Open
ECER Open plays the same game as Botball, with the same field, missions and scoring. The difference is the hardware: Botball uses a standardized kit; Open has no hardware limits. Bring your own robotics platform and program it to complete the missions autonomously.
| Practical detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Equipment | No hardware limits |
| Approximate cost | Bring your own hardware, plus a practice board |
| Registration deadline | March |
| Rules and game release | See the season page |
For Botball and Open, a practice board is necessary for tournament preparation.
Read the game and scoring rules in the conference documents section to plan your strategy.
Aerial Junior
Program a small drone to complete an autonomous obstacle course. During a scoring run, the drone takes off, navigates the course and completes missions using only its prepared program and onboard sensors. A judge awards points for completed tasks.
In the 2026 example, teams had up to four students and could use suitable autonomous drones below 249 g. DJI Tello EDU and Crazyflie were suggested options, not the only permitted hardware. Ages, team rules and hardware for the current ECER season will be confirmed with the season documents.
| Practical detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Equipment | Small programmable drone |
| Approximate cost | Bring your own hardware; suitable drones are available for approximately €350 |
| Registration deadline | March |
| Rules release | See the season page |
See the official Aerial downloads.
Aerial Senior
Design, build and program a drone for an advanced autonomous challenge. This track combines airframe design, electronics, control systems, sensing and software in one student project.
The exact ECER mission, eligibility, safety requirements and hardware rules will be published with the season documents. Past rules and CAD examples are available from the official Aerial archive.
| Practical detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Equipment | Custom drone |
| Approximate cost | Build your own hardware; price depends on your design |
| Registration deadline | March |
| Rules release | See the season page |
Papers & talks
Research is a part of ECER. Invited researchers present recent advances, and the Call for Papers invites students to write a paper or give a (10 - 15 min. long) talk in front of an international audience. Papers and talks are in English; submissions are handled through Moodle.
Both the Botball and Open require teams to submit a paper that counts towards the overall competition score.
| Practical detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Equipment and cost | According to research project |
| Registration | March, by submitting a paper |
| Call for Papers | Scheduled for the season documents release |
The Call for Papers is available through the eLearning platform. Explore last year’s papers and presentation topics.
Compare all six competitions
Experience, age and team-size ranges are recommendations. All students are generally eligible. Teams larger than recommended may be asked to limit in-person attendance based on venue capacity.
| Competition | Recommended age | Team size | Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| Botball | Late middle to high school | 3–6 | Beginner to advanced |
| Junior Botball | Late elementary to middle school | 2–3 | Beginner |
| Open | Late middle to high school | 3–6 | Beginner to experienced |
| Aerial Junior | Late elementary to middle school | 2–3 | Programming beginner |
| Aerial Senior | High school | 4–7 | Advanced |
| Papers & Talks | Late middle to high school | 1–3 authors, often part of a Botball or Open team | All levels |
Attendance on Monday (pre-conference) is optional and consists of preparing the competition venue; contact us if interested. Friday attendance is recommended for the awards and closing ceremony.
Hardware details are subject to the 2027 rules.
Ready to take part?
Choose your track, check the conference dates and start planning with your team. Ask us if you need help choosing.