FANUC Olympics 2026: 40 Italian schools will compete in robot and CNC machine programming.

Opublikował 22/04/2026

The fourth edition of the competition dedicated to the best young talents for tomorrow's manufacturing industry will take place on May 11th and 12th in Lainate (MI).

The most anticipated event in the world of Italian technical schools is back: the FANUC Olympics , now in its fourth edition, will take place on May 11 and 12, 2026, at the FANUC Italia headquarters in Lainate (MI). Forty schools will participate : 23 in the Industrial Robotics Competition and 17 in the CNC Programming Competition, for a total of over 80 students ready to challenge each other in highly technical practical and theoretical tests.

From desks to robotic cells: the challenge is real
Programming an industrial robot or a CNC machine is no longer just a textbook subject. At the FANUC Olympics, students from Italian technical and vocational schools compete directly on technologies identical to those used every day in the country's most advanced factories. Teams, each composed of two students accompanied by a designated instructor, will compete on FANUC ER-4iA robotic cells and ROBOGUIDE simulation software for the robotics competition; participants in the CNC competition will work on CNC Simulator and CNC Guide, developing programs in ISO language for 3-axis milling.

“Every year we see kids arriving with increasingly solid skills, and this tells us that the synergy between school and industry is working,” said Mirko Cazzaniga, Education Business Developer at FANUC Italia . “When a seventeen-year-old can program an industrial robot with the same precision as a factory technician, it's clear that something in the way schools are taught is truly changing. And it's a change that benefits the entire Italian industrial system.”

A national showcase that opens its doors to Europe
The FANUC Olympics aren't just a competition: they're a springboard. The top teams in the Robotics Competition will have the opportunity to participate in the WorldSkills Piemonte regional competitions in the fall of 2026, which will qualify for the EuroSkills Düsseldorf 2027 European Robotics Championships. This journey takes young Italian talent from the school lab to the European stage.
At the end of the two days of competition, the top three schools in each competition will be awarded prizes. All participants will receive a certificate of participation.

40 schools from all over Italy, one passion
The competing schools hail from 11 Italian regions, from Sicily to Friuli-Venezia Giulia, from Calabria to Piedmont, demonstrating how the passion for robotics and numerical control knows no geographical boundaries. Technical and vocational schools, ITS Academies, and vocational training centers will be joined together, united by a training program based on the FANUC-Sanoma educational laboratories, already present in hundreds of Italian schools.

The event was sponsored by: Sanoma, CIM 4.0, CIAC, ITS Lombardia Meccatronica Academy, Ingegneria Italia, Assolombarda, WorldSkills Italy, Politecnico di Milano, Salesiani CNOS-FAP ETS, SIRI, MADE Competence Center i4.0, Fondazione UCIMU, ASLAM, Mobilita ITS Academy, CIOFS Professional School and Free University of Bolzano.

The FANUC Olympics are a FANUC Italy initiative within the FANUC Education program, and a fun educational competition that helps train the technicians of the future, celebrating the talent and passion of Italian students.

About FANUC
FANUC Corporation is a leading global manufacturer of factory automation systems, including CNC systems, robots, machine tools, and presses (ROBODRILL, ROBOCUT, and ROBOSHOT). Since its founding in 1956, FANUC has been at the forefront of developing numerical control units for machine automation. With a global presence, 270 subsidiaries in 100 countries and over 9,000 employees, FANUC offers its customers an efficient and widespread system of sales, technical support, research and development, logistics, and customer service.

Aby uzyskać więcej informacji: FANUC Italia Srl

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