DEMO WEEKEND
Demo Weekend · Sat 16 – Sun 17 Jan 2027
Finals Day on Saturday, Showcase & Awards Day on Sunday, in Singapore; venue announced once confirmed. 3–5 finalist teams per track in each age group present live, and every participant is welcome at Demo Weekend. Please RSVP by Thu 14 Jan, 23:59 SGT. Finalists get their time slot on Thu 14 Jan; everyone who RSVPs gets check-in and travel information by Fri 15 Jan.
Sat 16 Jan · Finals Day
Finalists present live in their age group's zone: 5, 7 or 10 minutes, then 3 minutes of questions. Every participant and family is welcome to watch.
Sun 17 Jan · Showcase & Awards Day
Every team may exhibit its project. Visit the tables, vote for Community Choice, meet our partners, then celebrate the awards for every age group.
The schedule for each day is posted here before Demo Weekend. We’ll fit it to the final number of teams, but we won’t shorten published talk times. There’s no building on the day.
Talk times for finalists
- Ages 7–12: 5 min talk + 3 min Q&A
- Ages 13–16: 7 min talk + 3 min Q&A
- Ages 17–19: 10 min talk + 3 min Q&A
Every teammate gets a turn to speak. English is the main language; Chinese is welcome.
Checklist
- What to bring
- Your device, chargers, adapters, and an offline backup of your demo (video, screenshots or a local copy).
- Network
- If the Wi-Fi fails, you can show your offline backup. You won't lose marks for a failure of our equipment.
- Robots and devices
- Tell us in advance about batteries (especially lithium), moving parts and power needs, using the hardware declaration. Some equipment may not be allowed for safety reasons.
- Exhibiting on Sunday
- Every team may exhibit its project on Sun 17 Jan, at a table or on a poster spot. Sign up in your RSVP. Table positions are assigned at random within each age group. Please don't hand out food, sweets or giveaways at your table.
- Adults
- Each student may bring one accompanying adult. Adults sit in the audience and can't answer for students.
- Ages 7–12
- Ages 7–12 attend with their lead adult or a parent, who stays all day and arranges pick-up.
- Sign-in and sign-out
- Younger students are signed in and handed over only to an authorised adult at the end of each day.
- RSVP
- Every participant is welcome at Demo Weekend. Please RSVP by Thu 14 Jan, 23:59 SGT, using the link in your email, and tell us which day or days you're coming.
- Lunch
- Student lunch is part of the fee. Accompanying adults please bring or buy their own. We've noted dietary needs from registration.
- Photos and video
- Photos and video will be taken, including presentations, and used on YAI's and YCESS's own channels to show and promote YAI, as set out in the participation agreement.
- Red lanyard
- If you'd prefer your child not to be featured, ask for a red lanyard at check-in and our photographers will avoid featuring them.
- Partner booths
- Some partners may have booths in a separate area on Sunday. Visiting is optional and has nothing to do with judging.
- Can't come?
- Finalists: please tell us as early as you can. Your project can still be shown online but won't be ranked, and your certificates are still sent. Everyone else: just answer "not attending" in your RSVP.
- On the day
- Look for the YAI info desk. In an emergency, tell any staff member.
Community Choice Award: rules
- What it is: an award voted for by the people in the room at Showcase & Awards Day. It's separate from the judged awards and doesn't change any judged score, ranking or finalist decision.
- How many: one Community Choice Award for each age group (7–12, 13–16 and 17–19). It goes to a team and its project, not to an individual.
- Who can be voted for: every team with a table or poster at the Showcase on Sun 17 Jan 2027.
- Who can vote: every checked-in participant, plus one accompanying adult for each participant. Each voting badge has its own code. Judges, staff, volunteers, sponsors, teachers and coaches don't vote.
- How to vote: visit a table, scan its QR code, then scan or enter the code on your badge. Each badge has 3 stars, and each star must go to a different project: one vote per project. You can't vote for your own team, and accompanying adults can't vote for their child's team. One phone can be used for up to 3 badges (for example, yours and a child you're helping). If you'd like help, or don't have a phone, come to the Vote Desk.
- When: during Showcase & Awards Day on Sun 17 Jan 2027; the voting window is announced on the day. There's no online voting, and no voting before or after the window.
- Your vote is private: voting codes aren't linked to names, and votes are deleted 30 days after the event.
- Results: winners are announced at the Awards. We don't show live counts or publish vote totals. If there's a tie, the award is shared.
- Fair play: badges and codes can't be passed on. Votes from codes that weren't checked in, or that look automated or duplicated, are removed. Please don't offer gifts or favours for votes, and don't hand out food, sweets or giveaways at your table. Teams can't agree to swap votes. Before the Awards, we review unusual voting patterns, and teams that break these rules may be removed from the vote. Voting isn't rewarded with anything.
- Tables: table positions are assigned at random within each age group, so no team gets a better spot by asking.
- Prize: a Community Choice trophy and certificate. No cash.
Why Community Choice is in the room, not online
Online polls tend to reward the biggest network rather than the best project, and they’re easy to game. Keeping the vote at Showcase & Awards Day, with three stars each and no voting for your own team, means every project is seen in person and the result reflects the people who actually visited the tables. It’s a celebration, not a ranking. The judged awards are decided separately by the judging panel.