Uzbekistan Kids Learn Robotics as Nation Enters Tech Race

A seventh grader in Uzbekistan types a few lines of code, and suddenly his homemade robot springs to life, wheels turning exactly as he programmed them to move.

Mirkomil Shodiev, 12, represents both the present and future of his country's tech ambitions. While he learns Python and builds robots from educational kits at Robot Academy, Uzbekistan just signed a groundbreaking agreement with South Korea's ROBOTIS to launch domestic humanoid robot production for the first time.

The partnership between UzElTechSanoat Association and ROBOTIS will establish manufacturing facilities, build infrastructure, and train specialists for an entirely new industry in Uzbekistan. ROBOTIS, known for advanced humanoid platforms and smart actuators, will help create the technological foundations and develop a workforce capable of designing complex robotic systems.

But the real story starts far from industrial facilities. At Robot Academy, children aged eight to fifteen learn programming, robotics and engineering through hands-on projects using EVO-3 kits that let them assemble and code their own machines.

"This was created by me," Mirkomil says proudly. "You connect it to a computer, write code, and it performs tasks using the motor."

He started IT classes just four months ago, driven by curiosity about robotics and web design. Since then, he's built games on Scratch and moved on to Python, already planning his future career building websites.

Teacher Navruz Shaydullayev watches his students create scientific projects, develop games and build Telegram bots. "Programming helps develop their thinking, logic and intellectual abilities," he explains.

Because robotics combines software and hardware, students learn how digital commands translate into physical movement, the same principle behind industrial automation and modern manufacturing. "They are curious and ask many questions," Shaydullayev says. "We help them turn their ideas into real projects and develop their skills step by step."

The Ripple Effect

Uzbekistan's Digital Uzbekistan-2030 strategy is expanding nationwide programming and digital skills training as IT centers and specialized academies multiply to meet surging demand for technology careers. The ROBOTIS partnership could eventually create career paths connecting classroom experiments directly to industrial robotics production, with training programs ensuring the country develops its own engineers, programmers and technicians.

For students like Mirkomil, the dots are already connecting. "In the future I want to continue in this field," he says. "After finishing the courses, I would like to study in Tashkent as well."

As Uzbekistan prepares to manufacture humanoid robots, classrooms across the country are quietly training the people who may one day build them.