Mangaluru team to compete in Battle of Robots-2026 in Moscow

The student robotics team of the Centre for Advanced Learning (CFAL), Mangaluru, will compete in the qualifying stage of the three-day Battle of Robots 2026, an international combat robotics championship to be held in Moscow from October 8.

The CFAL is one of only two teams selected from India for the championship. The students will face teams from several countries in live combat rounds.

Machines built and piloted by teams of engineers and young innovators from different countries compete head-to-head during combat rounds in the championship, a CFAL release said.

At Battle of Robots-2025, CFAL’s team was selected among 64 teams, advanced to the final stage as one of the Top 16, and finished third in the 1.5 kg category, it said.

CFAL will field two 1.5 kg combat robots at the qualifying stage, each built around a distinct engineering approach. Bullfrog is a compact, aggressive horizontal spinner that took third place in the 1.5 kg category at Battle of Robots-2025. Twinrift is built on a four-wheel-drive system with multiple weapon configurations.

Over the past year, the team refined both machines, improving wheel, electronics, weapon and drive performance based on lessons from earlier competitions.

The team also received design, engineering and competition-preparation guidance from Terrorbull Robotics, one of India’s leading combat robotics teams.

“We see robotics, together with AI, as one of the most promising fields of engineering in the years ahead, and we want CFAL students to lead in it,” said CFAL.

“Our goal is not just to build winning robots, but to build students who can think, design, test and solve real engineering problems. Competing internationally gives them a platform to put that learning to the test,” said Sujan Shetty, head of CFAL’s Makerspace.