Bengaluru Humble School Kids Qualify for Robotics Olympics: Local Talent Goes Global
In the heart of Bengaluru, five students from modest government school backgrounds have defied the odds and qualified to represent India at the FIRST Global Robotics Challenge 2025—sometimes called the Olympics of Robotics. While their families work as housekeepers, garment workers, and technicians, these teenagers—Ningaraj, Parashuram M, Arjun K Raj, Gourish K, and GN Chandan Raj—spent countless afternoons tinkering, coding, and learning robotics in their school’s Atal Tinkering Lab. They come from Government High School, 18th Cross, Malleswaram, and the nearby Government PU College, yet their after-school curiosity has blossomed into a full-blown passion and an international opportunity.
Their journey began with basic hands-on activities: fixing old battery-powered toys, programming simple circuits, and experimenting with robot sensors. The small lab, filled with mismatched wires and old motors, quickly became a creative playground. Here, innovation wasn’t about fancy equipment but about a hunger to learn and a willingness to fail. Teachers encouraged them to experiment and provided access to robotics marathons and national competitions free of charge. The Atal Tinkering Lab’s inclusive spirit meant the students enjoyed the freedom to build anything they could imagine—with plenty of room for mistakes and breakthroughs.
The turning point came when the team started training at the Amazon Future Engineer Maker Space Lab, a hub designed to support low-income students in STEM. Mentorship programs and hands-on exercises gave the boys a deeper understanding of robotics, code, and teamwork. Over six months of hard work, they designed and fabricated a custom robot using DC motors, acrylic sheets, and a pulley-driven telescopic arm system, even employing a 3D printer for crucial parts. Their project, built under the 2025 competition theme of “Eco Equilibrium,” is intended to address practical environmental challenges and encourage habitat restoration.
In the qualifying stages of the competition, the students faced the “coral reef challenge”—designing a robot to collect and deposit coral samples, a task meant to simulate real ecological engineering problems. Their perseverance, creative problem-solving, and ability to incorporate new concepts won them a ticket to Panama, where, from October 29 to November 1, they’ll join teams from nearly 200 other countries. This global challenge calls on nations to send teams who will collaborate, compete, and showcase solutions to planet-wide STEM issues.
What makes this achievement stand out is not just the technical innovation, but also the spirit of transformation. The five students show that talent knows no economic boundary. Their rise from chalk-dusted classrooms to the world robotics stage reimagines what is possible when opportunity meets intent. For India, their selection sets an inspiring precedent—that STEM Education and robotics can be accessible to everyone, no matter how humble their beginnings.
National attention quickly followed. Politicians, educators, and tech industry leaders have praised their success, and local media highlighted their journey as proof that government schools, given the right support, can nurture world-class talent. Their story is now an inspiration for thousands of other children in underserved communities. Videos of their robot, social media campaigns tracking their journey, and testimonials from mentors and teachers have sparked viral engagement—proving the digital world is hungry for stories of grit and innovation.
As these five students pack their bags for Panama, their families and teachers reflect proudly on the road traveled. Their journey is a message: hands-on STEM education, community support, and curiosity really can change the trajectory of young lives. Whether they win or lose at the Robotics Olympics, these Bengaluru innovators have already scored a victory for inclusivity, persistence, and the future of Indian education.
