Forming a team

WRO offers students great opportunities and one of the first things that must be done, is forming a team. Teams for WRO challenges consist of two (2) or three (3) students. Teams are guided by a coach or a mentor who must be 18 years of age or older.

When forming a team a number of things should be considered. The first consideration is which WRO category is of interest? Each WRO category is different and requires a slightly different set of knowledge and experiences.

The next consideration are the age requirements for the category and/or level. Both RoboMission and Future Innovators Categories operate with three (3) age levels, while RoboSports, Future Engineers and WeDo all have specific age requirements.

The third consideration is commitment. All team members must be committed to their entry. Teams work well when there is a shared commitment.

Teams must also consider the range of talents, knowledge and experience of team members. Teams work well when team members bring with them a diverse backgrounds. A team of three expert programers and no budding engineers may not perform so well. Team members should specialise in particular areas - leader, engineer, programmer, designer, graphic artist, lead presenter, etc.

Once a team has been formed, team members and their coach should make themselves very aware of the challenge’s General Rules and Specific Rules as well as the Judging Criteria or criteria for scoring points. Using this information, the team should plan and formate a strategy to follow. Strategy plays an important part in the WRO competition