Stage is Set for DARPA’s Subterranean Challenge Final Event

With the final selection of ten Virtual Competition teams, competitors are set for the DARPA Subterranean (SubT) Challenge Final Event, to be held September 21-24 in Kentucky. Qualified virtual teams submitted autonomy software to explore three simulated underground worlds in the Preliminary Round of the Final Event. The top ten virtual teams from the Preliminary Round have been invited to submit updated software solutions for the Prize Round, which will be broadcast in tandem with the Systems Competition in which physical robots compete.

The Final Event will take place in the Louisville Mega Cavern, where teams of autonomous robots will navigate difficult underground environments to map unfamiliar areas and identify items of interest (including survivors, backpacks, even gas). The goal is to develop technologies for improving situational awareness of dangerous areas before sending in human first responders or war fighters. DARPA is pushing technological innovation through this worldwide competition with $5 million in prize money at stake.

The SubT Challenge, which began in 2018, has already conducted focused Circuit Events in tunnel, urban, and cave subdomains. In the Final Event, teams will have to work through all three environments.

“Teams are now using lessons learned in the Circuit Events to fine-tune their robot innovations in preparation for a variety of underground surprises,” said program manager Timothy Chung. “Through this process, the SubT Challenge has already inspired the launch of a handful of start-up companies and we expect more actionable technologies to be generated following the Final Event.”

The Systems Competition Final Event teams were announced previously. The final selection of teams competing in the Prize Round for the Virtual Competition are:

• Andersons
  • MRSL Real-time Systems Lab
• BARCS: Bayesian Adaptive Robot Control System (DARPA-funded)
  • Michigan Technological University/Michigan Tech Research Institute
• COLLEMBOLA: Communication Optimized, Low Latency Exploration, Map-Building and Object Localization Autonomy
  • Scientific Systems Company, Inc.
• Coordinated Robotics
  • Coordinated Robotics
• CTU-CRAS-NORLAB: Czech Technical University - Center for Robotics and Autonomous Systems - Northern Robotics Laboratory
  • Czech Technical University, Czech Republic
  • Université Laval, Canada
• Dynamo
  • Hilario Tomé, Spain
• Flying Fitches
  • Sophisticated Engineering UG, Germany
• MARBLE: Multi-agent Autonomy with Radar-Based Localization for Exploration
  • University of Colorado, Boulder
  • University of Colorado, Denver
  • University of California, Santa Cruz
• Robotika
  • Robotika International, Czech Republic and United States
  • Robotika.cz, Czech Republic
  • Czech University of Life Science, Czech Republic
  • Centre for Field Robotics, Czech Republic
  • Cogito Team, Switzerland
• SODIUM-24 Robotics
  • Malcolm Stagg

 

An online broadcast with highlights of both the Systems and Virtual Competition runs, along with expert commentary, will air daily September 21-24 on SubTv. On September 24th, an awards ceremony will be broadcast during which the top three prize winners in both the Virtual and Systems Competitions will be announced.

The Systems Competition prizes are: $2 million for first place, $1 million for second place, and $500,000 for third place. Prizes for the Virtual Competition are $750,000, $500,000, and $250,000 for first through third places, respectively. All teams, whether self-funded or DARPA-funded, are eligible to receive prize money.

DARPA will host media opportunities, including access to the teams, in Louisville September 23 and 24. Journalists interested attending the event in person are encouraged to contact DARPA at outreach@darpa.mil for more information.

Image Caption: The stage is set for DARPA’s Subterranean Challenge Final Event.

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Media with inquiries should contact DARPA Public Affairs at outreach@darpa.mil

 

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