Problem-solving at the Azorean Robotics Open: A study of the First Challenger competition

This paper reports on a study of the students’ participation in the First Challenger competition, held in the Azorean Robotics Open (ARO), to understand how the First Challenger competition promotes interpersonal relationships and fosters critical thinking and problem-solving activity. The First Challenger competition explores basic robotics behaviour concepts, such as following a line and detecting colours, which implies testing and gauging the sensors and programming the robot. In ARO, the teams receive a robotic kit. It is part of the competition to assemble the robot. The teams were mostly students from basic school, between 12 - 16 years old, and some had previous experience in robotics because of their activities in school robotics clubs. Data collected showed that the robot assembly was identified as simple, but not the process of programming optimisation, highlighting the relevance of previous knowledge in programming and robotics to the competition’s success. Regarding collaboration and sharing, most participants strongly collaborated within their own team, as expected. In the end, participants recognised that their teamwork skills were improved. Cooperation among participants from different teams also occurred, although to a lesser extent, suggesting the competitive nature of the challenge avoids this kind of interaction.