KRAI 2025 Launches with 24 Teams Competing for a Spot at Nationals

BANDUNG, kemahasiswaan.itb.ac.id – The Indonesian ABU Robocon (KRAI) 2025 officially began on Monday (7/7/2025), at the Futsal Sports Hall of ITB Jatinangor Campus. This competition was the only division in this year's national-level Indonesian Robot Contest (KRI) series. Various universities across Indonesia were present to compete for the position of representing Indonesia at the international Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union Robot Contest (ABU Robocon) 2025 event that will be held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

The opening ceremony was lively and imbued with a strong Sundanese cultural atmosphere. Sundanese dance performances from Lingkung Seni Sunda (LISES) Universitas Padjadjaran and the Baladewa dance from Perkumpulan Seni Tari dan Karawitan (PSTK) ITB serve as the welcome dances, showcasing the elegance of local traditions. All teams advancing to the national level were introduced, with representatives taking the stage and proudly unfurling their institution's logo. The Sambhawana Pratimacala, the rotating trophy of KRI, is also handed over from previous winner, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, to the host, ITB, as a symbol of the continuity and relay of the spirit of the national robotics competition.

The official opening ceremony was marked with the gong striking by Rector of ITB, Prof. Dr. Tatacipta Dirgantara, M.T., witnessed by the national committee, judges, participants, and all invited guests. In his remarks, Prof. Tatacipta expressed his hope that all participants would make the most of this competition, both in honing their robotics skills and in fostering cooperation and collaboration within and between teams.

"We're not just thinking about who will be the champion, but we recognize this as a long process that certainly requires resilience, both technically and through collaborative skills, strategic planning, and so on," he said.

ITB has been entrusted to host the national KRAI for the third time. Despite the short preparation time, ITB demonstrated solid readiness through the support of adequate human resources and infrastructure. The representative competition venue and responsive committee coordination contributed to the smooth running of this contest. This effort was commended by the Acting Director of Learning and Student Affairs, Dr. Berry Juliandi, S.Si., M.Si.

"I would like to once again express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to ITB as the host, (also) to the entire committee who has worked hard to prepare this event, and to the judges who will guide the competition over the next few days," he said.

The Head committee  of the KRAI 2025, Ir. Vani Virdyawan, S.T., M.T., Ph.D., also stated in his report that this year's competition was attended by 24 teams from various universities across Indonesia. All participants had previously gone through an online selection process and were now ready to showcase their best performance live at the national level. KRAI 2025 carried the theme "Robot Basketball," where each team used two robots to score points by shooting the ball into the opponent's hoop while simultaneously defending their own. This challenge is designed to test not only the precision of robot design and navigation abilities, but also teamwork and technical strategy in the competition.