The National Robotics Festival was the initiative of faculty members of the Universities of Minho, Aveiro and IST and had its first edition in 2001 in Guimarães.  The  objective of the Festival is the dissemination of Science and Technology to the general public and all levels of students, through competitions involving robots. The Festival is held every year in a different city and includes a Scientific Conference where researchers and entrepreneurs meet to present the most recent results of their activity.

The 7th Edition of the National Robotics Festival will be held in Paderne (Albufeira, Algarve) from 27 to 30 of April, and will be hosted by the Algarve Live Science Center and the Municipality of Albufeira. This event has had a continuous increase in the number of participants, competing teams and attending public since its first edition. Competitions of the different leagues include Autonomous Driving (since the beginning of the event),  Medium and Small Soccer and several junior leagues, Soccer, Dance and Search and Rescue, under official RoboCup rules.