The robots slipped along the ice rink, onlookers pressed up against the glass as they watched, when one red square robot took a definitive lead in the race. The bot crossed the finish line, spinning in celebration, before zipping around in a victory lap — crossing the finish line a second time before the second-place bot even made its finish.
The race was one of several events taking place at the Silicon Valley Ice Skating Association’s annual Robots on Ice event, featuring robots small and large skating across a rink at Sharks on Ice in San Jose.
Crowds clustered by the glass to watch the robots skate around the ice — ranging from miniature dog and cat robots to a full-sized replica of Dalek from TV show “Doctor Who.” One robot slid around the ice tossing out yellow balls. Some people controlled their robots during the games and events, while others watched the races from the stands. High school robotics teams clustered near the walls, completing repairs or finishing touches on their robots.
A small robot passes Dalekand, a replica robot from the Doctor Who show, during the Robots on Ice event at Sharks Ice San Jose in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, April 24, 2026. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
The event, which began in 2020, is hosted with the aim of inspiring attendees to pursue STEM, said Sarah Feldman, CEO and president of SVISA. SVISA is a nonprofit organization aimed at cultivating ice skating throughout Silicon Valley.
“We’ve got as young as toddlers looking at the robots and bringing bots on the ice, some amazing high school teams, as well as established, real seasoned roboticists,” Feldman said. “We’ve got folks from all sorts of robotics backgrounds.”
Feldman said that almost any robots are welcomed at the event — so long as they can ice skate.
And many robots and their handlers return to the event year after year. The Marauder, a 250 pound, six-foot long robot with six legs, for instance, has attended since the beginning, Feldman said.
The Marauder’s handler, Nick Donaldson, of Oakland, who also designed, programmed and built the bot, said that it is a fourth-generation version of a walking robot platform that was originally commissioned by the CEO of Intel. Donaldson was controlling the robot from the edge of the ice rink, wearing a top hat with a robotic monkey that jumped out on command.
For Robots on Ice, Donaldson designed custom ice skates for the robot, he said. He even had them professionally sharpened the day before the event.
“He’s skating a lot faster than he was last time,” Donaldson said. “He’s still struggling a little bit.”
Another participant, Kai Mai, chief operating officer of Petoi, which designs open-source robots that kids can build themselves to learn about robotics and coding, brought along some dog- and cat-shaped robots that walked around the ice.
“All the kids, … they’re very excited about robots,” Mai said.
Amit Bnerje, a resident of Belmont, brought his kids to the event, where they could show off the Petoi robots they had built in front of other people.
“They’ve been coming to this event annually,” he said. “This is their main exposure to robotics, just in front of people, otherwise they are mainly playing on their own.”
Donaldson added that the event’s ability to get bystanders more interested in robots was “great.”
“Robots are getting more and more accessible,” he said.
A robot moves among other robots during the Robots on Ice event at Sharks Ice San Jose in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, April 24, 2026. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Nybble robot cat, top, and Bittle robot dog, designed by Petoi robots, move among other robots during the Robots on Ice event at Sharks Ice San Jose in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, April 24, 2026. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
The Nybble robot cat, designed by Petoi robots, moves on concrete before moving among other robots on ice during the Robots on Ice event at Sharks Ice San Jose in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, April 24, 2026. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Marauder, a hexapod robot designed by Nick Donaldson, moves among other robots during the Robots on Ice event at Sharks Ice San Jose in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, April 24, 2026. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Marauder, center, a hexapod robot designed by Nick Donaldson, moves among other robots during the Robots on Ice event at Sharks Ice San Jose in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, April 24, 2026. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Nick Donaldson skates after checking his robot, Marauder, middle, during the Robots on Ice event at Sharks Ice San Jose in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, April 24, 2026. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
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A robot moves among other robots during the Robots on Ice event at Sharks Ice San Jose in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, April 24, 2026. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)