MathWorks today announced the names of the 12 qualified teams for the finals of its robotics. These 12 finalists emerged from a group of 220 participating teams and will compete in Lyon, on July 3rd, during the Innorobo tradeshow. Qualifying teams include: Adeline and her little green men, Jopimara, Cyborg, Vachefolle, Esig'inno AM & UROPE4MARS, iVengers, PMCLab, duckgo, Tabula Mater, The Planners, UTMars.
Since the launch of the second annual competition in early March, the teams had three months to optimize a basic simulation model of a robot provided by MathWorks. The 12 teams making the fastest and most intelligent models advanced to compete in the finals with real Rover robots. The robots will complete a unique, double mission: to explore Mars by detecting autonomously the location of sites and to avoid obstacles. The goal of the competition is to optimize the MATLAB and Simulink algorithms used by the Rover to complete the mission as fast as possible.
The competition calls for creativity by the participants – multiple generations of engineers, researchers and students – to innovate, create and take risks in their programming of their robots. Leveraging MATLAB and Simulink, which are widely used throughout commercial industry, with low-cost hardware, the competition requires teams to demonstrate their ability to innovate, create and take risks in their programming of their robots.
"This competition and its partnership with Innorobo, demonstrates the commitment MathWorks has to offer industry professionals, researchers and the academic community robust tools capable of meeting the challenges of robotics," said Paul Cox, robotics application engineer. "These tools aim to provide the best support that designers need to make robots more reliable and to support the development of new robotic applications. In addition, MATLAB and Simulink also are effective tools for teachers to enhance the learning of key robotics concepts such as kinematics, mechanics and control."
"Innorobo is the leading international robotics event in Europe,” said Catherine Simon, president and founder of Innorobo. “By supporting this robotics challenge during our tradeshow, MathWorks affirms its positioning as a main software provider in the European robotics ecosystem. Without programming, the robot is just a lifeless material. We are particularly pleased to host the finals of the ‘Mission on Mars’ challenge, which combines this year, navigation issues and obstacle avoidance."
