The Grand Challenge
An international competition in robot manipulation
"Disassembling and sorting e-waste"
GRAND CHALLENGE TASKS
Task 1
LOCALIZATION
Prove you can find the task board randomly placed on table by press button
Task 2
INSERTION
Pick up key and activate a keyswitch
Task 3
MOVE PLUG
Move an ethernet plug from one port to another
Task 4
EXTRACT AA BATTERIES
Remove 2x AA batteries from the battery box
Task 5
EXTRACT COIN BATTERY
Remove CR2032 battery from a receptacle
HOW TO COMPETE

- Selected teams will be mailed a competition task board to demonstrate their automated solution with their own robot platform
- The task board consists of 5 common task objects found in an industrial plant representing skills a robot platform may need an e-waste material handling plant
- Prior to starting a trial, teams must move the task board to a random location on velcro strips on a table in front of the robot to prevent pre-programming fixed motion paths
- Teams should develop their robot platform to move the task board from its starting state to the goal state without any human intervention. Details will be sent to the selected teams of the trial protocol and scorecard
- Teams will earn points for completing each progressive step on the task board
- Teams earning equal number of points will be distinguished by the fastest trail completion time
HOW THE TASK BOARD WORKS

STEP 1
Before beginning a trial, team’s must first place their task board in a new random location to prevent pre-programmed, hard-coded solutions.

STEP 2
Team’s begin an official trial by pressing the „Record“ button and then execute the competition protocol and all populated tasks on the task board with their robot.

STEP 3
Official team trials are aggregated and reported on the competition web dashboard. Team performances are ranked by number of points earned, then protocol completion times.
BE CONNECTED TO THE WORLD!
Follow Along the Journey – See individual team performance trials with the Competition IoT Task Board with our Web Dashboard
GUIDELINES
Team’s must provide details about their intended robot platform in their team application. Our goal is to provide the lowest barrier to entry for teams to participate in cutting edge robotics research and compete on a level playing field. To this end, the organizers have put into place the following robot platform restrictions.
Manipulators: Only fixed, single arm robot manipulators will be permitted.
End-of-Arm-Tooling: No restrictions. (Subject to approval)
Sensors: No restrictions
Compute: No restrictions
Task board and trial scorecards will be sent to teams at the start of Robothon® in April
- Trial runs will have a maximum run time of 10 minutes
Teams will be graded using an uncut video (max. 10 min) of their robot performing their solution on their task board AND with a Live Presentation with the Grand Challenge Jury to be scheduled over a video call
Once a trial has started, each team’s robot is expected to complete the entire set of tasks autonomously. Each human intervention will incur negative points for the team’s final trial score
No more than 2 attempts during the Live Presentation with the Grand Challenge Jury will be permitted
Bring your own device for local e-waste assignment
We want to learn about e-waste in your region.
How would your robot platform contribute towards a viable solution?
What devices would be appropriate? Show us what’s important for YOU and YOUR COMMUNITY!
Some suggestions are:
- TV Remote
- Smoke Detector
- Key Fob
- Kitchen scale
- Weight scale
- Old mobile phone

Use your robot platform to disassemble an electronic device and remove its batteries.
You may fix the device as you see fit. Remember your solution will be evaluated for its authenticity towards the real-world problem in your local community. Be creative!

OUR TIMELINE
Apply
- Gather a team of two to four people
- Prepare a 2-page motivation letter explaining your team’s qualifications, team formation, and research areas of interest and expertise
- Add a short video (2 Min. max) about previous work
Shipping Task Boards
- Selected teams will be notified and will receive their competition task board by mail
Official Kickoff Meeting & Start
- Meet the competition organizers, sponsors, jury, and other competing teams
- Review the competition outline and receive the official competition scorecard
- Ask questions and get answers related to the event prior to the start of the development period
Working Period
- You have four weeks of development time
- Create a fully autonomous solution with your robot platform
- Follow the scorecard to earn the most points
Submit your Results
- Create and submit an uncut video of your solution (10 Min. max)
- Submit a presentation video (5 Min. max) describing your approach, algorithms is used in your solution and your local e-waste assignment
- Include a Github project link documenting your robot platform with a quick start to run your solution
Live Presentations
- During a video call with one or more jury members
- 20 Min. Zoom call with the jury
- 10 Min. to demonstrate your solution; you have 2 attempts
- The best score will be counted
Decision Meeting
- The Grand Challenge Jury will determine the winnners of the competition
- Team scorecards, live jury presentation video, and task board measurements will be considered
Competition finalists announced
- Finalists will be notified via e-mail
- Finalists will be invited to participate at the Award Ceremony
Award Ceremony
- Finalists will be recognized and awarded on the munich_i platform at the automatica trade fair