On October 2, the Vietnam VEX Robotics National Championship 2026 launched at the National Innovation Center, marking the beginning of a nationwide search for outstanding student teams to compete in the world’s largest robotics competition.

The event provides a platform for students to hone their robotics skills, engage in competitive play, and connect with the broader robotics community in Vietnam.

The kickoff round drew 31 teams from various schools nationwide, competing in two main divisions: VEX IQ (elementary and middle school) and VEX V5 (high school and up).

The VEX IQ competition theme, "Mix and Match," challenges teams to stack items and place them in designated target zones. Teams must demonstrate teamwork in a 60-second challenge, manual driving skills, and autonomous programming.

The VEX V5 competition follows the theme "Push Back," a high-intensity contest focusing on speed, power, and strategy. Participants must design robots capable of both defense and offense to dominate the field and score points.

In the kickoff round, the alliance team from Archimedes Academy Primary School and Cau Giay Secondary School (Hanoi) took first place in the VEX IQ elementary division.

The top middle school team was an alliance of students from Ly Tu Trong Secondary School (Phu Tho) and three Hanoi-based schools: Olympia, Vinschool, and Edison.

In the VEX V5 division, the standout performers were teams from Vinschool and Brighton College Vietnam.

Tran Thi Thao, Director of Vietnam Robotics Education & Competition, emphasized that the championship offers students across all age groups a valuable opportunity to practice designing, building, programming, and competing with robots. She noted that the contest cultivates creativity, problem-solving, teamwork, and global networking skills in STEM.

Hoang Van Dong, founder of KidsCode Education JSC and technical sponsor of the event, stated that the kickoff round allows teams to test strategies, refine robot designs, and prepare for official rounds of the national championship in 2026.

In the coming months, regional qualifiers will take place in various provinces and cities, leading to the national finals and ultimately the 2026 VEX Robotics World Championship in the United States next April.

Thanh Hung