On Thursday 17 September 2026, Luxembourg’s French Lycée Vauban announced that five of its students had been selected to represent Luxembourg at the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Global Challenge international robotics competition in South Korea.
The competition, sometimes described as the "Olympics of robotics", as explained Vauban, will bring together young participants from more than 190 countries in Incheon from Wednesday 7 to Saturday 10 October 2026.
The Luxembourg team is composed of Vauban students Cléa, Esteban, Alix, Côme and Léonore, all of whom are members of the school's MS20 makerspace.
Earlier this year, the makerspace worked for several weeks on establishing radio contact with French astronaut Sophie Adenot aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the ARISS project, which was completed in March 2026.
This will be the third time Vauban students have participated in a FIRST Global Challenge final, following previous editions in Geneva in 2022 and Singapore in 2023. However, according to the school, 2026 marks the first time that the Luxembourg team is composed entirely of Vauban students.
The five students were selected through non-profit organisation Make It following its annual Luxembourg Youth Robotics Challenge (LYRC). Make It supports innovation, local manufacturing and the maker movement in Luxembourg.
Vauban noted that Make It is financing 95% of the competition registration costs. The team is currently seeking additional financial support from companies and other partners to cover the cost of travelling to South Korea.
