Robotics, alliances, and teamwork: Inside the national student competition

More than 15,000 students are showcasing their skills in programming, creativity, teamwork, and robotics at the Copa Robótica Educabot 2026. This national competition, which started in 2019, has expanded its reach this year, bringing together for the first time young participants aged 15 to 18 from all 23 provinces of Argentina.

The event involves 1,386 schools and 3,018 teams, who navigate through various stages before reaching the provincial semifinals. The competition structure blends online challenges, introductory programming and robotics modules, and collaborative teamwork exercises. The growth of the event is evident, with participation increasing from seven jurisdictions in 2025 to all 23 this year.

The journey to the semifinals began virtually. "In the first stage, we had to create presentation videos where scoring was based on orality, creativity, and other factors," explained one participant. The second stage focused on teamwork, tasking students with distributing wind energy within a game and organizing themselves into different roles to solve the problem. The top 20 teams advanced from this phase.

Themed around wind energy, the challenges serve as preparation for the in-person events. The National Final of the Copa Robótica Educabot 2026 is scheduled for September 25 and 26 in Neuquén. The victorious team will earn the opportunity to represent Argentina at the First Global Challenge 2026, the World Robotics Championship, taking place from October 7 to 10 in Incheon, South Korea, where teams from over 190 countries will compete.

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In the first stage, we had to create presentation videos where scoring was based on orality, creativity, and other factors.