But red warning lights are flashing and alarms are blaring in the minds of organisers, as the number of information technology teachers continues to decline in New Zealand schools.
Competition chairman Donald Liddell said technology teachers were now "few and far between'' in New Zealand, and he called on the Government to train more.
He said only five technology teachers were being trained in New Zealand each year.
"While we can train technology teachers, the retention of these teachers is very hard.
"This event shows just how important those teachers are.''
Because of the low numbers, he said technology events like Robocup were beginning to struggle.
"So when Nathan Guy [Minister for Primary Industries] says that the primary industry needs all of these technology people, we're saying: ‘Where are they all going to come from?, because we've got no-one to teach them'.
"The skills are there, the kids can do it, they've got the opportunity, but there's a big gaping hole [in technology teacher numbers].''
Despite the decline in the number of technology teachers, Mr Liddell said the standard of competition in Dunedin on Saturday was excellent this year.
About 20 schools from around Otago participated in the competition, which aims to give children an opportunity to display their technology skills and compare them with their fellow pupils.
There are three genres in the competition.
There is theatre, where robots are programmed to do choreographed movements; search and rescue, where robots rescue a soda can (human) from a toxic lake and move it to safety; and soccer, in which two teams use robots to move a ball into a goal.
"There are some very good robots here this year - the standard is still very high.''
