Sparks were flying and robots fought to dismember each other at Kilobots 2026 National Championships. Hosted at the Telus Spark Science Centre, more than 60 battling robots competed across three weight categories to take home the crown of the nation’s best Kilobot. “This is our annual big year-end event. Teams have been fighting it out all year long at different smaller events both in Saskatoon and Calgary, and this is the culmination of all of their efforts,” said Kilobots event organizer Kurtis Wanner. “We started just in Saskatoon, and then found that Calgary was so into it that we built a second arena here. Those are our two major populations zones, but we have builders and teams from all over Canada competing here,” Wanner continued. This year’s tournament was titled “SIX SEVEN,” not just for the viral meme, but because it’s the 67th event hosted by Kilobots, and the builders involved are certainly happy to celebrate another great weekend of high-energy robot clashes. “You forget everything else around you and you’re just focused in the box. You see your bot, you see what’s going on, and you’re just kind of in like a fugue state. You’re driving, you’re in it, and it’s exhilarating,” said Kilobot builder Michael Fontaine. “The first time I fought, I barely realized what had happened. Suddenly, the fight was over, my hands were shaking, and I was like, ‘whoa, this is amazing.’ The adrenaline rush is huge,” added fellow builder Matt Inglot. All the builders highlighted how great the community is, saying win or lose, it’s always good vibes after a round, with builders often discussing ways to help improve each other’s robots and all sharing in the hobby together. A hobby like battling robots also takes a lot of engineering knowledge and skills, a challenge the builders love to navigate. “The engineering challenges you come up against when you’re trying to build something that can store this much energy, or work this well at a weight limit, because we’re restricted by these weight classes. You have to make engineering choices and problem solve, and every time you fight them, you see new ways that they fail and ways you can make them better and build them,” Fontaine said. “As a father, I like to say that this is a stealth learning opportunity. You can get people into Kilobots by showing them the sparks and the crashing in the excitement, but then they start building robots and wondering, ‘how do I improve this one thing that broke last time,’” Wanner added. The battles were hosted in the Inspiration Stage, where the builders were happy to see many people cheering them on. They hope seeing the battles up close encourages others to get interested in engineering, and the in-person experience has certainly gripped some children like 4-year-old Rayne Pisterzi. “I like their fun designs, like Archimedes and Flesh Wound. They have pretty fun design looks. (I like) watching the robots go crazy, I love watching the battle bots,” Pisterzi said. At just four years old, Pisterzi already has ambitions of getting into the Kilobot world, saying he hopes to build a robot named “Carnivora” that clamps down on opposing robots. That type of enthusiasm, especially among children, is one of the highlights of a bigger event like Nationals for some of the builders. “It encourages other people, and especially kids, to come and get involved in engineering and other types of subjects like that. They love combat robots, and when you see the smiles on their faces, when they realize that they can actually see combat robots live right here, it’s so amazing,” Inglot said. Besides pride and bragging rights, the Kilobots were competing for trophies, gift cards, and vouchers, most of which usually go directly into buying more parts to repair and upgrade the robots.
