The Final Countdown:
Inside Challenge Event 3
The Most Complex Environment Yet
In Challenge Event 3, Systems teams will face component-testing gates that challenge their triage capabilities and Lane 2 where they must demonstrate their ability to assist medics to save more lives.
The competition's individual gates systematically test critical triage functions: Locating casualties, conducting swift initial assessments, detailed trauma evaluation, and capturing vital signs.
These skills then converge in a human-machine teaming exercise, where autonomous systems and medics collaborate to demonstrate the full potential of rapid, life-saving triage.
SystemsChallenge Event 3 | 2026 | |
| Workshop | March 14-19 |
| Qualifications | July 28 - Aug. 30 |
| Competition | Nov. 5-14 |
| Awards ceremony | Nov. 14 |
Gate 1: Find and locate
Platforms must autonomously locate as many casualties as possible, as quickly as they can.
Gate 2: Rapid triage
When time is of the essence, teams must identify severely injured casualties within minutes.
Gate 3: Trauma assessment
Using sophisticated onboard sensors, teams will report on injury types and casualty locations.
Gate 4: Accurate vitals (Optional)
Teams will accurately report on vital signs such as heart and respiration rates. Scores from this optional gate will add to the aggregate score for teams choosing to participate.
Human machine teaming lane
Teams passing Gates 1-3 at full autonomy qualify to win the Grand Prize.
A large number of simulated casualties will be located in and around multi-story buildings and rubble. Visibility will be compromised by low lighting, smoke and fire.
Medics will deploy armed with casualty location and injury data gathered by robotic platforms that arrived first on the scene.
The goal of the human machine teaming lane is to determine how autonomous sensing platforms can help medics perform more accurate and timely triage.
Overview
