President Milanović Receives Members of the “Team Croatia 2026” to Represent Croatia at the International Robotics Competition.

The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović received today the members of “Team Croatia 2026” informatics squad ahead of their departure for the prestigious FIRST Global Challenge international robotics competition, taking place from 7 to 10 October in Incheon, South Korea. This year, the Croatian national team comprises secondary school students and their mentors from the “NET” Informatics Club in Ivanić-Grad and the “Pozitron” Centre in Poreč.

Students from 190 countries will participate in the FIRST Global Challenge, themed “Igniting Innovation”, with the young Croatian roboticists competing in two categories. One of the robotics tasks they are taking part in addresses a global issue – wildfires. The Croatian team of roboticists has chosen the topic of wildfire prevention. Through their project, they are investigating soil dryness in specific areas, since dry soil further exacerbates the spread of wildfires.

The team presented President Milanović with the robot they will use to compete in the second category and explained the rules of this year’s competition. It is unique in that robotics is treated as a sport with an emphasis on cooperation. Specifically, rather than traditional rivalry, national teams randomly form alliances on the field, meaning that alongside technical proficiency, evaluation criteria also include communication, international collaboration, strategy and adaptability, the members of the Croatian team of competitors explained.

President Milanović wished the young Croatian roboticists every success at the competition in South Korea with the message – fight for yourselves and for Croatia!

Croatia has been taking part in this competition for a number of years, and the national team has previously been made up of members from various Croatian robotics and informatics clubs.

This year’s “team Croatia 2026” comprises members of the “NET” Informatics Club from Ivanić-Grad and the “Pozitron” Centre from Poreč. Attending the meeting at the Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia on behalf of the “NET” Informatics Club were the Club’s president Marin Franković, secretary Hrvoje Tišljar, expert mentor Arian Večerin, and the student team members Veronika Mihinec, Fran Mance and Mihael Prebeg. The delegation of the “Pozitron” Centre in Poreč included the Centre’s president Lovro Šverko, expert mentor Damir Brdar, technical support member Filip Štifanić, and the student team members Erik Petrović, Moreno Terlević, Filip Peršurić Bernobić and Marko Popović.

President Milanović was accompanied by the Adviser of the President for Education Jadranka Žarković.

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Dario Andrišek