The NAO Challenge is a national Italian educational competition that engages secondary school students in humanoid robotics through a journey that combines programming, creativity, and live performance.
At the heart of the challenge is NAO, a humanoid robot capable of speaking, moving, and interacting.
Throughout the school year, teams learn how to design and program the robot.
The challenge goes beyond technical skills: participants must also create and stage original performances in which NAO becomes an actor, narrator, or character capable of conveying emotions to the audience.
The competition consists of two events:
- a technical challenge, which evaluates precision and programming abilities,
- and a performance challenge, in which teams present their live show before a jury during the National Final.
More than 35 teams from schools across Italy took part in the 2026 edition.
Each team was made up of seven to ten participants, including students and teacher-coaches.
The schools represented ranging from technical institutes to science-focused high schools and others demonstrate how educational robotics can bring together students from diverse educational
backgrounds around a shared project
The NAO Challenge is an experience that combines scientific rigor, teamwork, and creative freedom, with the goal of preparing younger generations for a future in which living and working alongside intelligent machines will become an increasingly important part of everyday life.
First organized in Italy in 2015 by the Scuola di Robotica in collaboration with CampuStore, the NAO Challenge has become a well-established event in the Italian STEM education landscape.
Maxtronics is proud to support Campustore and the Scuola di Robotica as sponsor of their NAO Challenge Italian competition.
