Frequently Asked Questions

STORM (Student Tele-Operated Robotics Mission) is an interscholastic robotics competition for university students. Teams build tele-operated robots capable of navigation, investigation, and interaction, all controlled remotely over WiFi from a separate location.

STORM is designed to be accessible to all university students regardless of robotics background. It focuses on affordable, off-the-shelf components and emphasizes creative problem-solving over expensive equipment. The unique tele-operation challenge requires robots to be controlled from a physically separate location using only WiFi.

No! STORM is specifically designed to be accessible to students with varying levels of experience. While some technical knowledge is helpful, the competition emphasizes creativity, problem-solving, and learning over prior experience.

STORM is open to teams associated with a university or post-secondary institution. All team members must be currently registered in at least one course during the Fall or Spring semester of the competition year.

A team can consist of any number of team members. Each team must have one Team Captain and a faculty or staff advisor.

No, registration for STORM is completely free! This is part of our mission to make robotics accessible to all students.

Registration typically opens early in the fall semester and remains open until a few weeks before the competition.

STORM is hosted in the Oklahoma City/Norman metropolitan area. The exact venue details are provided to registered teams closer to the competition date.

A WiFi network is provided at the competition on a specific subnet provided in the rules. Robots connect via the competition WiFi access point, while operators can use WiFi or ethernet in the control room.

Yes! Choosing and integrating sensors creatively is a key part of STORM. The goal is to display collected data to your remote operator in clever and effective ways using affordable, off-the-shelf components. However, other restrictions may be provided in the rules.

Robots must be battery-powered and communicate only through the provided WiFi network. Other restrictions may be provided in the rules.

Yes, all teams must submit a design report describing their robot development. Reports specifics will be covered in the rules but typically cover topics like team organization, mechanical design, electrical design, and software design.

Design reports are due before the competition date, a specific deadline will be given in the rules.

Design reports will be submitted in your teams dashboard. Teams will receive a confirmation email after submitting.

Design reports are scored by industry professionals.

Similar to submission, once feedback is released you will receive an email and can view it on your teams dashboard.