Japan’s contest for the worst robots you’ve ever seen now accepts applications

At Hebocon, a competition for clumsy and barely functional robots, victory is accidental, and failure is the whole point.

Don’t come to win — come to lose. That’s the one message potential entrants should keep in mind before enrolling in Hebocon, also known as the Robot Contest for Dummies.

The competition brings together the technically ungifted, whose self-made, barely mobile machines somehow stumble through strange and awkward battles where little is at stake beyond pride.

Now in its 11th year, with the next edition set for June 29th in Tokyo, Hebocon once again promises to expose “the dark underbelly of Japan, the nation of science and technology.”

A celebration of failure

The name "Hebocon" comes from the Japanese word heboi, meaning something extremely poor in quality – something laughably bad. The aim of the contest is to celebrate the charm of "heboiness" and the creative spirit that thrives despite obvious technical shortcomings.

“If things aren’t looking good, then you have the right to participate in Hebocon,” says Daiju Ishikawa, the organizer and founder of the competition.

Originally conceived as a parody of high-tech robot battles, Hebocon is aimed at participants with no technical skills. Experts are allowed to enter – but only if they are willing to "forget" everything they know.

While the tournament technically crowns a champion, winners often receive a rough reception, says Ishikawa, because it usually means they accidentally built a robot that works too well.

The real prize is the Lowest Technical Skill Award, also known as the Most Hebo Award, which is decided by audience vote. However, intentionally losing is against the rules.

“True heboiness can only be achieved through fighting hard, and then losing,” Ishikawa says.

Machines that shouldn’t work – and don’t

The deadline for this year’s applications is May 15th, and while last-minute applications are welcome – and even used to be encouraged – the competition has grown so popular that a lottery is now drawn early to select participants if there are too many.

Since its inception in 2014, Hebocon has grown into an international phenomenon, with contests held in the United States, Spain, and the Czech Republic among other places.

In past competitions, robots have included a machine that weakly spit playing cards from its mouth, a plastic dinosaur strapped to a vibrating motor, and a robot that collapsed under its own weight the moment the battle started.

Most matches are short, confused affairs where machines spin, fall over, or simply refuse to move, much to the delight of the crowd. For Hebocon, technical failure isn’t just accepted – it’s celebrated as an art form.