Children and young adults across Rhineland-Palatinate will soon be able to test their robotics skills at the 14th annual Landeswettbewerb Robotik, a regional qualifying event for the World Robot Olympiad (WRO). The competition, open to participants aged 8 to 22, will be held on May 9th, 2026, in Kaiserslautern.
The Landeswettbewerb Robotik has been conducted following the WRO format since 2012, according to information from Bildungsserver Rheinland-Pfalz. Teams of two or three individuals will design, build, and program robots to autonomously complete specified tasks within a set timeframe. The tasks themselves are developed internationally and remain consistent across all WRO competitions globally.
This year’s competition will feature a unique challenge: in addition to tackling known “seasonal” tasks, teams must also adapt to unforeseen “daily” tasks presented on the day of the event. This element is designed to assess teams’ flexibility, creativity, and problem-solving abilities under pressure, as outlined on the eventfrog.de website.
The Kaiserslautern event is one of several regional competitions taking place in Rhineland-Palatinate this year. Additional competitions are scheduled for Haßloch on May 30th, Ingelheim on April 25th, and Trier on both May 9th and June 19th, 2026, with the Trier event serving as the Germany finale. The WRO website lists RoboMission Elementary, RoboMission Junior, RoboMission Senior, Future Innovators, Future Engineers, and Starter/Sumo as competition categories.
The Ada-Lovelace-Projekt at the University of Trier will provide expert judges for the Trier competition. Registration for the WRO competitions remains open until March 27th, 2026, and financial aid is available for teams that require it, including free robot kits and waived registration fees. Spectators are welcome to attend the events.
