The tenth anniversary edition of the Roboti@FME secondary school competition once again attracted teams from across the Czech Republic—and even from Slovakia. Within just a few hours, participants had to build a robot from a kit and prepare it to compete against rival teams. This year, the top performance came from students of the Otto Wichterle Secondary Technical School. Over the past decade, the Mechatronics Division has gained not only talented prospective students through the competition, but also the confidence to take robotics beyond the laboratory and present it to the wider public.

Lukáš Kičura leans over a table where his teammates Pavol and Adrián are busy at work. Scattered across the tabletop are LEGO pieces, batteries, wires and other components. “We came from Prešov in Slovakia, where we study at a secondary technical school of electrical engineering. The two of us are specialising in electrical engineering, and our teammate focuses on information technology,” Lukáš explains. While Pavol and Adrián continue assembling their robot, Lukáš briefly steps into the role of spokesperson for their team, aptly named Speshari.

All three have been involved in robotics for several years, and Roboti@FME impressed them enough to apply despite the distance. They successfully qualified among the nine teams invited to the final round in Brno. “Everything is new to us—the kit as well as the competition format, where we only have a few hours to complete the task. We can see the competition is strong, but of course we believe in ourselves,” Lukáš says with a smile.

Meanwhile, teachers gather for coffee in the foyer. Their role today is not an easy one: they may cheer on their teams but must resist the temptation to help or offer advice. The outcome will be decided in the afternoon robot battles. “There are two paths to victory—either push all opponents out of the ring or remain closest to the centre for five minutes. The teams compete in three groups of three, with the winners advancing to the final trio,” explains Jan Králík from the Mechatronics Division, outlining this year’s challenge.

Students from secondary schools have been competing in this robotic showdown for a full decade. Martin Appel was present at the very first editions—then as a student, now as a member of the Mechatronics Division. Over the years, the competition has grown in size and prestige, and the organising team has gained valuable experience. But much more has changed. “It was one of the first events I organised, and it was a challenge. Today we also run a summer school and take part in various outreach events—we attend education fairs such as Gaudeamus, the Researchers’ Night, and visit secondary schools. The competition gave momentum to our efforts to promote mechatronics. At the same time, we saw its impact: mechatronics is one of the fields at FME where interest has been steadily increasing,” Appel explains. He adds that each year he meets former competition participants—or summer school attendees—among first-year students. “We also see familiar faces among teachers, as some schools regularly send teams to compete,” he notes.

The full photo gallery is available on the FME Facebook page.

His words are echoed by teacher Lubomír Krejsa from the Secondary Technical School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering in České Budějovice, where he oversees the robotics and control systems programme. “I’ve been teaching at the school for four years, and this is the fourth time I’ve brought students to the competition,” he says. Why does he make the annual journey from southern Bohemia? “I encourage talented students to push beyond their teachers. We don’t teach exactly this type of task at school. Here, they have to interpret the assignment, think independently and build something with their own hands. In many ways, it mirrors real practice,” Krejsa explains. He adds that several of his former graduates are now studying at FME. “Schools cannot prepare students for everything. We provide a foundation on which they can build—learn to respond, manage stress and work under time pressure. They test their abilities, gain experience and build confidence,” he adds.

Krejsa’s students ultimately secured an impressive fourth place. The Slovak team Speshari—Lukáš, Pavol and Adrián—claimed second place. The overall winners of the jubilee tenth edition were the Megamyslové team from the Otto Wichterle Secondary Technical School.

Prizes for the top three teams were presented by FME alumnus Libor Urbanec, Director of Garrett – Advancing Motion Czech Republic. “I would like to sincerely thank our sponsor Garrett. They have supported the competition for several years now, and we are extremely grateful—without their partnership, we would not be able to organise this event,” Appel concludes.

Big thanks to our annual sponsor.

Final Rankings

Place	Team name	School
1	Megamyslové	Střední průmyslová škola Otty Wichterleho
2	Speshari	Stredná priemyselná škola elektrotechnická Prešov
3	Až na konec	Gymnázium Zábřeh
4	VW ID. BUZZ	Střední průmyslová škola strojní a elektrotechnická v Českých Budějovicích
5	Pokus	SPŠ Přerov, Elektrotechnika
6	Clankers	Gymnázium Brno-Řečkovice
7	ZnojBot	Gymnázium, Střední pedagogická škola, Obchodní akademie a Jazyková škola s právem státní jazykové zkoušky Znojmo
7	Průmka	Střední škola průmyslová a umělecká Hodonín
7	robot.exe	Gymnázium Štefana Moysesa a Stredná odborná škola agrotechnická – Agrotechnikai Szakközépiskola