Defence to host RobotX in 2022

The Australian Department of Defence will host RobotX, an international autonomous maritime robotic vehicles competition, in November 2022. The event will be a showcase for Australia’s strengths in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) research according to Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price.

Maritime RobotX will take place at the Sydney International Regatta Centre, Penrith. Minister Price said the biennial event consists of teams made up of students from multiple engineering disciplines from universities across the world.

“This competition enables students, academic institutions and industry partners to focus on the challenges of maritime autonomy – one of the fastest growing industrial pursuits of our time,” she said.

“Robotic autonomous systems and artificial intelligence (RAS-AI) will play an increasing role in future Australian Defence Force capability. The Royal Australian Navy’s ‘RAS-AI Strategy 2040’ encourages engagement in experimentation, cooperation and innovation at all levels to fulfil our potential.

Defence will work with United States not-for-profit organisation RoboNation to deliver the competition, which will include an industry day for industry to connect with STEM talent in academia.

The Trusted Autonomous Systems Defence Cooperative Research Centre will be supporting the event, which will consist of a range of obstacle course challenges.

The challenge is funded by Defence’s Next Generation Technologies Fund, in partnership RoboNation and the United States Office of Naval Research.

Past participating countries have included Australia, the United States, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, China and Singapore.

For more information go to: https://www.dst.defence.gov.au/event/2022-maritime-robotx-challenge