Indonesia's ITS Students Win Two Awards at ABU Robocon 2026 in Hong Kong - Tempo.co English
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Richie robot team from the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) Surabaya successfully won two awards at the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Robocon 2026 competition in Hong Kong. The two accolades secured by the team—which had previously won the national-level ABU Robocon contest—were the Best Idea Award and the ROHM Award.
Muhammad Najmi Ihsan, the leader of the ITS Richie Team, explained that the team fielded two robots, both featuring mechanical innovations. The first robot utilized a three-axis arm mechanism, while the second was designed with a forklift-like mechanism to lift the "Kung Fu Scroll."
"Both mechanical systems utilized stainless steel with a thickness of 0.8 millimeters," Najmi stated in a written release on Tuesday, September 1, 2026.
The ITS Mechanical Engineering student noted that the team had also implemented upgrades to the robots compared to the versions used in the national competition last July. These upgrades focused on the QR code-based robot communication system.
The robots' capabilities were further enhanced through the development of an automated program designed to handle fallen boxes. Thanks to these two innovations, Najmi added, "We won the Best Idea Award."
The ITS Richie Robocon team successfully won two international awards—the Best Idea Award and the ROHM Award—at the ABU Robocon 2026 competition in Hong Kong. Photo: ITS.
For the second award, the ITS Richie Team utilized electronic components from ROHM Semiconductor, one of the sponsors of ABU Robocon 2026. ROHM devices accounted for 10 percent of the total components used in the ITS team's robots. "We successfully won the ROHM Award for that innovation," Najmi said.
Beyond the awards, Najmi considered the experience of participating in ABU Robocon to be invaluable for his team. He noted that the knowledge-sharing sessions at the event provided opportunities to learn about robotics, programming, and mechanics from teams representing various countries.
For context, the ITS Richie Team represented Indonesia at the ABU Robocon 2026 competition after successfully retaining the first-place title at the ABU Indonesia Robot Contest (KRAI) 2026, part of the broader Indonesian Robot Contest (KRI) 2026. The contest was organized by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology through the Indonesian Talent Development Center (BPTI). ABU Robocon is considered prestigious because the competition evaluates more than just advanced robotics; success requires a sound strategy to complete tasks in accordance with the match rules.
