Iranian students win three titles at China robotics event
Runner‑up spot no less than championship: Team manager tells Iran Daily
Iran’s 13-member student robotics team won three titles at the RobotChallenge 2026 in Beijing, China, taking second place in the team Technical Report category and third place in both the under-12 creativity category and robotic rugby.
The results extended Iran’s presence among the leading teams in the international student robotics competition, despite the country sending a much smaller delegation than several of its rivals.
Teams from 48 countries took part in the competition, with students from countries including China, Russia, Romania, Japan, Germany and South Korea competing alongside Iran.
Nader Nobakht, head of Iran’s student robotics teams, told Iran Daily that the second-place finish in the Technical Report category demonstrated the ability of Iranian students to design, document and present robotics projects at an international level.
The category assesses more than the construction and operation of a robot. It also examines teams’ ability in the design process, problem-solving, technical documentation and presentation of their achievements.
Iranian students also picked up third place in the under-12 creativity category, highlighting the creative abilities of younger members of the country’s robotics programme.
The Iranian team finished third in robotic rugby, adding a second bronze-level result to its second-place team ranking.
Nobakht said the continued success of Iranian students in international competitions was significant, particularly given the size of the delegation sent to China this year.
“For the championship, naturally, much broader facilities, equipment, logistical support and preparation are needed,” Nobakht said, adding that maintaining a position around second and third place in the world was itself a valuable achievement.
He said that if Iran wanted to go one step further and win the championship, the team would need access to better equipment and facilities, a more organized preparation process, broader planning and more suitable training camps.
Increasing the number of students sent to international competitions would also be important, Nobakht said.
The difference in team sizes was particularly striking at this year’s competition. South Korea and Thailand each competed with more than 100 students, while Malaysia also sent more than 100 students. Host China took part with a very large student delegation.
Egypt sent about 70 to 80 students, while Tunisia sent about 30 to 40, according to Nobakht.
Iran competed with only 13 students.
Nobakht said Iran had sent 48 students to the competition two years ago and that expectations had been for the delegation to grow this year, potentially reaching about 100 students.
He said the smaller Iranian delegation made the three results particularly significant.
“Despite this difference in the number of participants, facilities and level of preparation, winning three world titles with a team of 13 students is a very valuable achievement,” Nobakht said, describing the result as “something not short of a championship”.
The number of participants, equipment, facilities, logistical support and the quality of preparation can all influence a team’s chances of winning, he said.
Iran nevertheless held on to its place among the world’s leading student robotics teams and defended the runner-up position it achieved in the previous edition of the competition.
The result also kept alive Iran’s recent run of international success in student robotics, with the country again finishing near the top of a competition involving dozens of national teams.
In memory of Minab schoolkids
The Iranian students also used the competition to commemorate pupils killed at Shajareh Tayyebeh School in Minab, a city in southern Iran.
The team competed with images of the victims printed on their uniforms as part of an effort to honor the memory and suffering of the students.
At least 168 people, most of them primary-school boys and girls, were killed in a US missile attack on the school on February 28.
The Iranian students continued to wear the same uniforms when they appeared on the podium after securing their international titles, dedicating their scientific and sporting achievement to the victims.
The podium appearances also brought Iran’s flag to one of the world’s major international student scientific competitions.
For Iran, the latest results build on its performance in the previous edition, when the student robotics team finished as world runner-up.
This year, with a delegation of just 13 students, the team secured second place in the Technical Report category and two third-place finishes in under-12 creativity and robotic rugby.
The results demonstrated the capacity of Iranian students to compete internationally even when the resources and size of the delegation were significantly different from those of several competing countries.