The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have announced a collaboration to organize the first ever UN-based educational robotics championship. Scheduled for October this year, the event marks the country’s debut in the Robotics for Good Youth Challenge 2024-2025, a global initiative led by the ITU under the UN’s AI for Good platform.
The event, coordinated by IHFC, IIT Delhi’s technology innovation hub, aims to elevate Indian students and their robotics capabilities to an international level. It also aims to encourage students to develop robotic solutions for disaster management, a key global concern.
The challenge is designed for two age groups: Junior (Class 6-8) and Senior (Class 9-12), where participants will have the opportunity to conceive, construct, and program a robot to accomplish a mission aligned with advancing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The emphasis is on Robotics for Good, with a focus on tackling natural disasters such as earthquakes, seismic risk prediction, and soil and subsurface research.
The main goal is to facilitate swift intervention during disasters to efficiently minimise their impact. An Indian qualifying tournament is scheduled for October 17 at the International Exhibition Convention Centre in Delhi, followed by another qualifying tournament leading to the grand finale in Geneva during the AI for Good Global Summit 2025.