Student-built robots will compete against one another next weekend in the first Hawaii International Micro Robot Conference and Tournament at the University of Hawaii-Hilo.

The conference is scheduled from Friday to Monday at the Imiloa Astronomy Center. It will showcase the work of robotics students and allow community leaders to talk to industry experts about the advantages and possibilities of a micro mechanisms and robotics industry in Hawaii.

The Waiakea High School Robotics Club and the Hawaii Space Grant Consortium are hosting the event.

On Saturday a bipedal robot demonstration will be open to the public from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Risa Saito, a Japanese high school student who won a two-legged robot competition in the 2009 Micro Robot Contest at Nagoya University, will demonstrate bipedal robots with technical education teacher Hideaki Matsutani.

"The exciting thing about this endeavor is the idea that the Big Island could become a center for the development of micro mechanisms research and development and a micro-robotics industry in the Pacific," Hawaii Space Grant Consortium education specialist Art Kimura said in a news release.