The 16th annual RoboGames 2023 competition kicked off at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton on Thursday for the first time since 2018.

Bouncing back after a four-year hiatus and attracting thousands of contestants and more than 500 robots, the four-day event features tiny quarter-sized autonomous robots, hockey and soccer-playing humanoid robots, art robots and more.

This year’s participating countries include Brazil, Canada, China, Ecuador, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, UK, USA, and Ukraine.

RoboGames, the world’s largest robot competition, hosted its annual international event presented by Visit Tri-Valley. The family-friendly celebration of all things robotics showcased hundreds of robots from across the globe competing in more than 40 robot events, including a 250-pound robot combat, humanoid kung-fu, soccer and 11 events just for kids, along with demonstrations by leading robotics industry designers and engineers.

RoboGames was founded by David Calkins in 2004 as the ROBOlympics.

“From year to year, it’s inspiring to witness the increasingly global impact of RoboGames,” Calkins said.  “We are really excited to be entering the 16th year of this truly one-of-a-kind event.”