en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Korea Institute of Robotics and Convergence (KIRO) announced that the "2026 Humanoid Robot Challenge" will be held from July 2 to 3 at the Songdo International Convention Center in Incheon. The event is hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and co-organized by the Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement.
This competition is the largest empirical contest in South Korea, aimed at verifying the applicability of humanoid robots in manufacturing sites. Twelve teams from major universities and research institutions across the country will participate, competing in technical prowess.
Humanoid robots are gaining widespread attention as a core technology to enhance manufacturing productivity and address labor shortages. Amid the expansion of field demonstrations and commercialization by major global countries and companies, South Korea considers securing humanoid robot technology a key task to strengthen manufacturing competitiveness. KIRO is hosting this competition to objectively assess the commercialization level of domestic humanoid robot technology and confirm its applicability in industrial sites.
The competition takes place in an environment simulating actual manufacturing sites, featuring four tasks: component sorting, component transport, sequential assembly, and wheel hub installation and fastening. Participating teams must complete the tasks within a specified time, with comprehensive evaluations based on work precision, stability, and execution outcomes.
The 12 teams selected through document review will upgrade their humanoid robot platforms and perception, control, and manipulation technologies before competing in the finals. Each team receives 30 million KRW in production support funds and one-on-one expert guidance. KB Financial Group provided a total of 30 million KRW in prize sponsorship to promote domestic humanoid robot talent development and industrial ecosystem growth.
This competition is the largest empirical contest for humanoid robot technology in South Korea, allowing comparison and verification of domestic humanoid robot technologies in the same manufacturing environment. It is expected to contribute to setting technical development directions and performance evaluation standards for future industrial field applications. KIRO plans to systematically digitize the level of domestic humanoid robot technology by analyzing empirical data accumulated from the competition, including platform performance comparisons, task completion rates, average scores, and error types. Additionally, by building an industry-academia-research cooperation network and a technology and data sharing system, it aims to help form a humanoid robot industry ecosystem and enhance manufacturing competitiveness.
Cho Young-hoon, President of the Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement, stated that humanoid robots will become a game-changing core technology in future manufacturing, and that this challenge will significantly expand empirical cases of domestic technology, further strengthening the K-humanoid robot industry ecosystem.
