On February 28, 2026, the On-Orbit Final Round of the 6th Kibo Robot Programming Challenge (Kibo-RPC) was held. A total of 13 teams (Table 1), which had advanced through national and regional preliminary rounds, took part in the competition. Using programs developed by the students, the teams controlled Astrobee, a drone robot operated by NASA inside the International Space Station (ISS) Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo”. They competed in both the accuracy of image recognition and the speed of completing mission tasks. Unlike simulations, the actual environment inside the ISS includes disturbances such as airflow and other unexpected behaviors. As a result, teams were required to develop highly robust programs capable of handling these conditions. This year, the team from Taiwan, iTron, won first place. Australia’s own team Dream Rover placed 10th with a very commendable effort in the competition.
Kibo Australia
Emergency alert is activated!!
