Autonomous robotics competition to be held in Sydney next month

Two dozen autonomous robots designed by engineering students from across Australia and New Zealand will compete for robot supremacy in the 7th Annual National Instruments Autonomous Robotics Competition (NIARC), to be held at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) on 5 September.

NIARC is a student competition designed to encourage development and innovation in the field of robotics. Over the last six months, the participants — ranging from first-year university students to PhD candidates — have had access to hardware and software from NI to design and program intelligent vehicles.

With the theme of ‘Transportation Innovation’, the 2017 event will see the robots navigate a ‘smart city’, following road rules, adjusting speed in line with school zones and highways, picking up ‘passengers’ and returning home safely. Each robot’s objective is to earn the most points by completing the required tasks as quickly and efficiently as possible.

“Car manufacturers are racing to bring autonomous vehicles to market, and the technology has the potential to change everything about the way we move people and goods. That’s why we are so excited to be able to offer students the opportunity to be a part of that change,” National Instruments Vice President for Asia-Pacific Chandran Nair said.

“The industry will face increasingly complex systems and demands for improved speed, productivity and efficiency. By enabling the students to work with industry-leading hardware and software, we can help provide them with the real-world skills needed to become tomorrow’s top engineers.”

The competition has grown over the past seven years from including 11 teams initially to 18 today, with previous winners including the University of Wollongong (2016), the University of South Australia (2015) and the University of New South Wales (2014). This year’s competition will also welcome a team from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

The competition will be held at UTS on 5 September from 9 am to 5 pm, with the quarterfinals set to begin at around 2 pm. The event is free to attend.

For more information, visit http://australia.ni.com/ni-arc/live-final.