AI and robotics talent from across South Korea converge on Busan

Busan city announced Friday it will host the 2026 Busan Robot Competition — the event's 16th edition — at Bexco and Dongmyeong University over two days, Saturday and Sunday.

Held annually since 2010, the competition is organized by the city of Busan to cultivate talent in AI and robotics and broaden the base of the robot industry. The Korea Institute of Robot and Convergence serves as the operating body, with the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education as a supporting sponsor.

Regional universities and educational and robotics institutions are also taking part, including Pukyong National University's Intelligent Robot Innovation Convergence University project team and R-WeSET project team, Dongmyeong University's Marine Robot Education Technology Research Institute, the Physical AI Research Society and the Elementary SW Education Engineering Research Society.

This year's competition features 10 events — five for elementary school students, four for middle and high school students, and one for university students — with 260 teams and 503 participants testing their skills in robot construction, programming and creative problem-solving using AI. The competition has also expanded robot academy-linked events to include elementary school students and will introduce new events reflecting Busan's regional characteristics.

The Autonomous Robot and AI Lab (ARAI Lab), led by Lee Seung-jun, a professor at Pusan National University, will display AnubisII — the robot that won the global RoboCup competition — for the second consecutive year and will host an invited lecture on "the RoboCup championship story." Lee will share his experience navigating the competition and conducting autonomous robot research, while the lab will showcase world-class autonomous robot technology and research achievements.

The opening ceremony will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Bexco's Exhibition Hall 2. Details on individual competition events are available on the Busan Robot Competition website at www.busanrobotcom.or.kr.