The championship held annually since 2004 is expected to feature 400 school teams from 40 countries, and was announced by Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin earlier.
Since its inception, WRO has encouraged students, both at primary and secondary school levels, to participate in science, technology and robotics. Last year's gold medalists in the lower secondary open category, SMK USJ 4 is one of the favorites this year. Details may found at the WRO 2012 official website, containing details of this year's competition, "Robots Connecting People."
WRO is the climax of the National Robotics Competition organized by the Malaysian Education Ministry since 2005.
