Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –
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The FIRST Tech Challenge Italy Championship 2026 international robotics championship was held in Cesenatico, Italy. The tournament brought together teams from 13 countries: Russia, Romania, Colombia, Venezuela, Italy, Greece, Slovenia, Zimbabwe, Spain, San Marino, Serbia, China, and Switzerland. Based on the results of all stages of the competition, the Sputnik Original team from St. Petersburg Lyceum No. 244 scored the highest number of points and was recognized as the overall champion of the tournament for the second year in a row, confirming its status as one of the strongest school engineering teams in Europe. Representatives of the Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University played an active role in preparing and supporting the winners.
The 2025–2026 FIRST Tech Challenge season is called "HISTORY CODE." Teams are tasked with developing a robot capable of finding and distributing historical artifacts on the game board, completing a series of complex engineering and strategic tasks.
Sixteen mentors from companies and leading technical universities participated in the robot's development and competition preparation. Among them were students and graduates of the Polytechnic University. The team received primary support from Viktor Yakovlev, a first-year master's student at the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Materials, and Transport, who acted as a mentor. He assisted the young engineers with engineering calculations, mechanics, and testing of the robot's systems. Viktor Popov, a graduate of the Institute of Power Engineering, also worked with the team.
The team developed a new robot specifically for the season, called Hippopotamus. Its task is to find, capture, and distribute game artifacts, performing tasks both autonomously and under human control. The design includes a collection system, a distribution module, a firing mechanism with two modes (with a range of up to 4 meters), and a targeting system. Development was iterative: the team created five full versions of the robot and 24 versions of individual mechanisms, constantly refining the design and software.
Following their victory in Italy, the team continues preparing for the next international competition. From March 27–29, the team will take part in the final stage of the International Open Championship of the League of Engineers at the National Children's Technopark in Minsk. The main event of the season will be the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship, which will be held from April 29 to May 2.
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