On Thursday, November 27, 2025, the Faculty of Science of the Jan Evangelista Purkyně University (Faculty of Law, UJEP) in cooperation with the Innovation Center of the Ústí nad Labem Region (ICUK) the first Regional robotics competition inspired by the international FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC).
Four teams competed at the SLUNETA Sport Center: CHOBOT from Chomutov, CircuitBreakers from Litoměřice, LEDbot from Ústí nad Labem and PaperBox from Štětí. The winner secured participation and the opportunity to represent the Ústí nad Labem region and the Czech Republic at the prestigious FRC competition, which will take place in April 2026 in the USA.
The teams were created thanks to of the ROBUL project, which was launched two years ago by ICUK and whose patronage and funding were subsequently taken over by the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Prague. Originally, the Ústí nad Labem ROBUL team represented the Czech Republic at the international FRC competition in Chicago (2024) and Denver (2025). Today, there are four teams – and the winner of the regional competition will fly to the USA under the common ROBUL brand.
Opening ceremony was taken on by three guests: 1st Deputy Governor of the Ústí nad Labem Region Jindra Zalabákova, Rector of UJEP Jaroslav Koutsky and director of ICUK Martin Mata. Together they officially started the first year of the competition, which is completely unique in the Czech environment.
The teams faced five disciplines, which they had to master in both manual (RC) and autonomous (AUTO) modes. The competition tested technical skill, strategic thinking, and the ability to react quickly in a dynamic environment.
MAZE opened the competition – the robots traversed the track – twice in manual and twice in autonomous mode. The best time from each mode was counted. For each touch with the track boundary, the teams received a penalty in the form of extra seconds. The CHOBOT team managed this task best.
MOVING OBJECTS tested quick reactions, accuracy and precise control. The robot had to avoid rolling balls that moved unpredictably across the surface. Points were awarded to both the dodging robot and the team that hit the robot with the ball. The CircuitBreakers team mastered this discipline best.
The third task, titled RINGS was the only one in RC mode only. The robots collected and sorted various objects, with the teams choosing their own strategy to get the most points. The game tested the ability to manipulate, plan and effectively coordinate movements. The CHOBOT team again collected the most points.
Task LASERS, based on aiming and evading laser targets, was the same for all teams. One robot tried to escape the laser targets while three opposing robot towers tried to hit it. The accuracy of aiming, reaction speed, and strategy in both RC and AUTO modes were tested. The task was the same for all teams – everyone received the same number of points.
Final SLALOM required precise maneuvering between obstacles - "cones", which required precise steering and good spatial orientation. The best performance was again shown by the CHOBOT team.
Final ranking:
- 4th place – LEDbot (4 points) — team from Resslova Secondary School in Ústí nad Labem, mentors Dominik Vostrovský and Daniel Trnka, 4 members.
- 3rd place – PaperBox (9 points) — team from Vocational School of Packaging Technology and Secondary School in Štětí, mentors Jakub Škrabánek and Josef Jindra, 12 members. Won the Audience Award and the PR and Marketing Jury Award.
- 2nd place – CircuitBreakers (16 points) — a team of high school students from Institute of Technical Education in Litoměřice, mentors Jan Štěrba and Jindřich Černý.
- 1st place – CHOBOT (26 points) — team from Secondary school and vocational school Chomutov, mentors Jan Krejčí (Faculty of Economics, UJEP) and Jan Jakub Petrovec. The team also won the Expert Jury Award and will represent the Czech Republic at FRC 2026 in Denver.
„"This win is a huge motivation for us. As a team, we have shown this year that we can combine technical skills, team spirit and a desire to learn new things - and it is also pleasing that the representation of girls in technical competitions is growing. It is the diversity of our competencies and knowledge that will help us in the competition in Denver. I am proud of what the team members have achieved,"„, said Jan Krejčí, the main mentor of the CHOBOT team.
Already first week of January part of the team will leave to Eindhoven, where he will meet European robotics teams in the background of the world-successful Rembrandts team. Together they will watch the official „"Kick-Off Event" 2026, where he will learn the complete rules and the format of the competition tasks. After returning, several weeks of intensive work will begin — design, prototyping, construction of the playground, programming and testing.
„"The first year of the regional competition exceeded our expectations. The tasks were attractive not only for the teams, but also for the spectators. The world competition will be much more demanding, but CHOBOT is a great team that will, I believe, successfully represent us. And the other three teams will definitely not be idle. We are preparing further activities and development opportunities for them,"“ added Tamara Klein, guarantor of the activity "Robot Team for International Competitions (ROBUL)" and project manager of ICUK.
The competition was supported by Sports center SLUNETA, which provided the premises and excellent facilities, and the company Mondelez International, which provided energy to the players in the form of cookies.
The regional robotics competition showed how enormous talent and creativity is growing in schools in the Ústí nad Labem region. Each of the teams proved that when students are given the space to create, experiment and overcome obstacles, projects are created that have European and global potential. This is just the beginning — and today's students may soon be the ones who will change the technological future of our region.
You can follow more about the RobUL team on the website: robul.cz or on FB/ IG.
This program is part of activity A 2.38 Robot Team for International Competitions of the RUR project – Region University, University of the Region, reg. no. CZ.10.02.01/00/22_002/0000210.
