Bot Brigade: CFAL students with their combat robots ahead of the Battle of Robots 2026 qualifiers in Moscow, to be held from Oct 8 to 10
Mangaluru : A student robotics team from the Centre for Advanced Learning (CFAL), one of only two teams selected from India, will compete in the qualifying stage of Battle of Robots 2026, an international combat robotics championship in Moscow from Oct 8 to 10.
For this year’s qualifying stage, CFAL will field two 1.5kg combat robots — Bullfrog and Twinrift — each based on a distinct engineering approach. Bullfrog is a compact horizontal spinner that secured third place in its category at the 2025 championship. At the 2025 edition, CFAL’s team was selected from 64 participating teams, advanced to the final stage as one of the top 16, and finished third in the 1.5kg category.
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The students will compete against teams from several countries in live combat rounds, according to the organisers. That is what we do at CFAL, and this team is part of that idea,” CFAL said in a statement. Competing internationally gives them a platform to put that learning to the test,” said Shetty.
The CFAL team comprises Hari Prasad SK, Maquin Gregg Rodrigues, Anagha SR, Ishan Jemshid, Amogh C Naik, Sujay Aithala, Priyanshu Swarnakar, Likhith Madhava Arkula, B Manthan Baliga and Aldreena Diya Rodrigues. Twinrift features a four-wheel-drive system and supports multiple weapon configurations. The students designed and built the robots under the guidance of Sujan Shetty, head of CFAL’s Makerspace and a founding member of the initiative, and Harshitha Nayak, engineer and STEM educator. The team also received design, engineering and competition-preparation guidance from Terrorbull Robotics, an Indian combat robotics team. Battle of Robots features machines designed and piloted by teams of engineers and young innovators from different countries. The teams compete head-to-head in combat rounds across different weight categories. “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. We have seen that when students spend time in labs and engage in practical work, their career paths become clearer. “Our goal is not just to build winning robots, but to build students who can think, design, test, and solve real engineering problems. Download the TOI App.
Over the past year, the students have refined both robots, improving their wheels, electronics, weapon and drive systems based on lessons learnt from earlier competitions.