Most volunteers have previously competed in an annual competition and many have gone on to study robotics, computer science or engineering at university.

There are a series of league matches, spread over two half days, where each team competes against 3 other robots, to score points.

Teams are introduced to the competition, and provided with their kit, at a "KickStart" event at the beginning of the academic year in October.

The competition is free to enter although schools have to make their own travel arrangements and provide the materials to build a chassis and fashion their robot.

[7] The current revision of the kit uses a Raspberry Pi 4 as its central controller; previously both an Odroid U3 (2015 - 2022) and BeagleBoard have been used.

Most competitors use the Python programming language and teams are given access to a software library to ease interaction with the kit.

[11] This task involved moving and stacking cans of food in an arena, and marks the return of Student Robotics to an in-person competition following the COVID-19 pandemic.

This competition year also marked a transition to Python 3 on the physical kit, and a new computer vision system based on OpenCV.

[13] Due to the remote nature of the competition, the usual structure of having a weekend with all matches on was replaced with four game "modules".

Teams were instructed to submit code at the start of each competition day, so that matches could be pre-recorded, and then live-streamed over YouTube.

This task involved moving cardboard boxes (tokens) around the arena in order to capture zones.

The task involved "capturing" small wooden cubes ("Flags") from their starting positions by moving them into the team's scoring area.

Details on the 2015 competition and awards can be found in the 2015 rulebook The task involved moving 20 cm3 cubes from their start positions into slots in the centre on the arena.

This tie breaker has been said to be the most tense match in Student Robotics history as it was won 3 seconds before the end.

The winners of the 2012 Competition were:[24] Details on the awards can be found in the 2012 Rulebook The task was to go around the arena, gaining points for each corner passed.

Multipliers were applied to the points gained related to the number of baked bean tins that the robot had picked up en route.

In addition, a super token (a rubber duck, from which the game's name was derived) was placed on top of a ramp in the centre of the arena, which was worth enough points alone to swing the match.

[26] Teams had a home zone on the floor of the arena, as well as a net suspended above their corner, into which the balls could be placed.