Smart Factory Robotics Challenge
WSRO
📌 About the event
The Smart Factory Robotics Challenge (SFRC) 2026 is an engineering and automation competition designed to align with India’s Viksit Bharat by 2047 mission. This challenge transitions away from standard, simple line-following tasks into a complex Hybrid Automation Model. Teams must design, program, and operate an autonomous or manually assisted robot to optimize operations within an integrated 8 ft × 4 ft smart manufacturing environment.
Robots must navigate a multi-zone arena, using structural picking, grabbing, and machine vision mechanisms to execute physical logistics and inventory tasks.
📅 Critical Timelines & System Logistics
- Competition Launch Date: July 11, 2026
- Host Institution & Venue: Karnavati University, Gujarat, India
- Event Tier: Regional Championship Track (WSRO India • Version 1.0.1)
- Team Composition Nodes: Minimum 2 | Maximum 4 members per cluster
- Target Demographic: Young innovators aged 08 to 16 years old
⚙️ Physical Robot & Hardware Specifications
The tournament enforces strict safety and physical dimension thresholds to maintain field compliance:
- Maximum Weight Allocation: 2.0 kg maximum.
- Electrical Regulation: Fully battery-powered; voltage must not exceed 9V or a 2S lithium configuration between any two terminals.
- Open Hardware Policy: Teams can use any computational platform. Approved systems include Arduino (any variant), Raspberry Pi, ESP32/ESP8266, Quarky, LEGO (EV3, SPIKE, Technic), Micro:bit, Vex IQ Brain, and MakeBot.
- Shield Constraint: Custom PCBs serving purely as breakout boards or shields are allowed; fully custom main controller boards are prohibited.
- Permitted Remote Interfaces: RC Controllers, standard Bluetooth controllers (Xbox, PlayStation), or custom mobile app Bluetooth interfaces.
💻 Allowed Software Environments
Teams are completely unrestricted to specific software environments (no restriction to PictoBlox). Permitted frameworks include:
- Arduino IDE, Native C / C++, or Python
- Scratch-based block programming variations
- OpenCV, TensorFlow Lite, and Edge AI frameworks for computer vision models