Competition at the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
Hangzhou International Expo Center, Hangzhou, China
October 19-25, 2025
Biologically inspired, low-cost robots with powerful terrain traversal capabilities.
For AI to be meaningfully integrated into robotics, we must broaden our understanding of what constitutes the "brain" of a robot. Discussions of AI in robotics typically centre around computation in a classical sense - processors, control algorithms, and data-driven decision-making. However, in soft robotics, intelligence is distributed across the entire system, where morphology, material properties, and environmental interactions play fundamental roles.
In this competition, the goal is to design a low cost, bio-inspired, robotic system that exemplifies embodied intelligence through locomotion. Participants are encouraged to draw inspiration from advancements in the soft robotics field, and explore how nature-inspired designs leverage body-environment interactions to achieve efficient locomotion, whether by crawling, undulating, inching, rolling, or employing novel forms of movement.
The challenge invites participants to study how organisms exploit compliance, distributed actuation, and material properties and translate these into an operational robot. The design should not only be functional, but should also highlight the potential of soft robotics to navigate and adapt to complex environments. Additional points will be awarded for innovative approaches that showcase “spectacular” behaviours arising from the interplay of materials, structure, and control.
A detailed breakdown of the rules and scoring can be found in the official rulebook. Download full rulebook (PDF)
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EPFL
Switzerland
EPFL / NYU
Switzerland / USA
The National Robotarium
Scotland
The University of Edinburgh
Scotland
EPFL
Switzerland
UCLA
USA
AMOLF
Netherlands
Hangzhou International Expo Center, Hangzhou, China