THOUSANDS of robotics experts, artificial intelligence researchers and technology innovators will head to Melbourne next year for RoboCup, the world’s biggest robotics conference and competition.
The event, which includes the RoboCup Symposium, will bring the global robotics community to Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre with ICMS Australiasia as the conference planner.
Up to 3,000 delegates and 15,000 spectators are expected to attend, generating more than A$14 million in economic impact for the city.
Melbourne Convention Bureau secured the event in partnership with the RoboCup Federation, RMIT University and RoboCup Junior Australia, with support from the Victoria state government, Tourism Australia’s Business Events Bid Fund and ICMS.
“Victoria is the ideal destination to host this incredible event, which will bring hundreds of world-leading researchers and innovators together and provide a major boost to our visitor economy,” said Steve Dimopoulos, Victoria’s Minister for Sport and Major Events.
“As a globally-recognised hub for technology, advanced manufacturing and digital innovation – we have the ecosystem needed to deliver an event like this which will help shape the future of robotics and AI.”
Founded to advance intelligent robotics through real-world challenges, RoboCup is the world’s largest robotics and artificial intelligence competition. Its events range from autonomous robot soccer matches and simulated disaster-response missions to industrial logistics and manufacturing challenges. It also incorporates RoboCupJunior, which introduces school students to robotics and AI.
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Melbourne and the wider state of Victoria have built strengths in advanced manufacturing, automation, digital technologies and applied AI, supported by universities, research institutions, start-ups and industry partners.
RoboCup 2028 joins a growing pipeline of international technology and scientific events heading to Melbourne. The city is also preparing to host the inaugural Australian AI Summit in September, along with the IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces and the International Conference on Neural Information Processing.
“Bringing the world’s brightest minds in robotics to Melbourne strengthens collaboration, inspires future generations and reinforces Victoria’s reputation as a destination where innovation thrives,” said Julia Swanson, Melbourne Convention Bureau chief executive.
RoboCup Federation president Ubbo Visser said: “The RoboCup Federation is delighted to return to Melbourne, which hosted RoboCup as one of the inaugural locations over a quarter of a century ago. The board of trustees unanimously acknowledged the depth and quality of the bid. The RoboCup community is happy to return to Australia.”
