- The first LeRobot 2026 hackathon will allow young people aged 18 to 35 to spend 36 hours developing prototypes capable of learning from human demonstrations
- The initiative will take place from 23 to 25 October in Vitoria-Gasteiz and aims to introduce young talent to advanced robotics and the technologies that will transform industry
- Robotekin aims to make the hackathon the starting point for a permanent community of talent in robotics and applied artificial intelligence
Can a robot learn a task by watching a person perform it? This will be one of the challenges at the first LeRobot 2026 Hackathon in Álava, organised by Robotekin, the Basque Association of Robotics and Automation, which currently has 62 members and is supported by the Basque Government and the Provincial Council of Álava.
The event will bring together up to 75 young people aged between 18 and 35 on 23, 24 and 25 October at the Robotory, located at Robotekin’s headquarters on the Vitoria-Gasteiz Campus of the Basque Country Technology Park. Over the course of 36 hours, participants will work in teams to develop and train robots using artificial intelligence, in a practical, collaborative environment with links to industry.
The teams will use a LeRobot robotic arm and the open-source framework powered by Hugging Face to develop prototypes capable of learning from human demonstrations. Projects may address challenges relating to object manipulation, robotic vision, imitation learning and social applications linked to education, accessibility or assistance.
The aim is for participants to gain hands-on experience with robotics and artificial intelligence technologies and to turn their ideas into functional solutions. Throughout the hackathon, they will be supported by specialists in robotics and AI, who will act as mentors, and prizes will be awarded at the end.
Registration is free and will remain open until all 50 places are filled. Participants may enter either as part of an existing team or as individuals; in the latter case, the organisers will form the groups.
Talent for the industry of the future
Beyond the technological challenge, Robotekin presents the LeRobot Hackathon as an initiative to introduce young talent to the technologies that are transforming industry and to develop the skills that will be needed in the coming years.
“If we want our industry to remain competitive, we must prepare today the talent we will need tomorrow. Robotics and artificial intelligence are transforming the way we manufacture, and we need our young people to be able to experiment with these technologies and learn how to apply them,” said Saray Zárate, president of Robotekin and Member of the Basque Parliament for Economic Development and Sustainability. She also emphasised that initiatives of this kind enable “talent, technology and industry to come together in a single space and turn learning into real-world experience”.
In the same vein, the Director-General of the Basque Association of Robotics and Automation, Leire Balzategui, emphasised that the aim “is not merely to provide training in a specific tool, but to develop the skills that the industrial ecosystem will need: people capable of experimenting, solving problems and turning new technologies into practical solutions”.
“The challenge is not just to meet the current needs of our companies, but to anticipate what they will need tomorrow. This hackathon is a way of starting to develop that talent right now,” he added.
The launch of an advanced robotics community
Robotekin wants this first edition to also mark the start of a permanent community centred on advanced robotics and applied artificial intelligence, enabling new talent to be brought on board each year, knowledge to be shared, and young people, specialists and companies to be connected.
“We want this hackathon to be much more than just a three-day event. We want to build a community that grows every year and brings talent ever closer to the needs of our companies,” explained Balzategui.
The aim is that, in future editions, the companies themselves will set real technological challenges, so that teams can work on specific needs and the initiative’s impact reaches the industrial sector directly.
Technology and collaboration
To organise the LeRobot 2026 Hackathon, Robotekin will be working in partnership with Bravo Robots, NVIDIA Robotics and Hugging Face, who will provide technology, specialist knowledge and links to the open-source ecosystem.
The initiative is also sponsored by partners such as Danobat, Mekindu, Solid Machine Vision, Ikerlan and the Álava Technology Park; by financial institutions such as Rural Kutxa, Laboral Kutxa and the Caja de Ingenieros; and by media organisations such as El Correo.
The Hackathon will be launched at Mondragon Goi Eskola Politeknikoa on Friday 18 September and at the EHU’s School of Engineering in Vitoria-Gasteiz on Monday 21 September.
Through this initiative, Robotekin aims to empower young people to take a leading role in technological transformation, by experimenting with robotics and artificial intelligence and developing the skills that will help build the industry of the future.
👉Web oficial: https://hackathon.robotekin.com/
Building the future of robotics. 💪
Getting Together
