Audio rules - English only     Rules FAQ 

Below is additional information that may be helpful to participants and advisers.

As The Tech Challenge progresses, participating teams and The Tech staff may discover that the rules must be updated. All changes will be posted on The Tech Challenge website, and registered teams will be notified by email regarding significant changes. Changes posted to the website will be labeled by date. Please check the website often for updates.

During device testing, the top priority is safety. Judges are authorized to stop any activity they view as unsafe. Teams are expected to handle and operate their devices safely. The judges’ word is final on safety-related issues.

The Tech Challenge generally emphasizes the importance of developing engineering solutions that would be practical in real life, otherwise known as the Spirit of the Challenge. Engineering is not just about building structures, aircraft, or rovers. Creative, expressive, entertaining things are real world. Things that bring joy and delight have real-world value. For this challenge, engineering is used to design and build devices for entertainment.  

Store-bought solutions are not in the Spirit of the Challenge. We want to see your team’s creativity. Teams are encouraged to design and build devices using their own ideas. Use of existing plans for reference and inspiration is allowed. All plans, and the source of those plans, must be documented in the engineering journal.