Katapult Asia

WHAT IS ROBOTHON?
Another Industry Open-source Mobile Robotics Design Challenge series, ROBOTHON, is a collaboration between MRANTI, Katapult Asia, SCUTTLE Robotics Asia, Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) and Intel Corporation with the aim in developing more industry-relevant talents with autonomous mobile robotics knowledge and skills, plus developing innovative solutions addressing industry challenges.

Open to all students (school, undergraduate and postgraduate levels) to partner their respective academic lecturers and/or industry players (especially startups and SMEs) to take part in this inaugural Robotics Hackathon (or known as ROBOTHON) co-hosted by MRANTI and Katapult Asia Sdn Bhd, supported by Malaysia Productivity Corporation, Intel Corporation Malaysia, Viam and SCUTTLE Robotics.

Furthering the Robotics For University (or #ROBOFUN) launched by Intel on 16th Jan 2023 (https://lnkd.in/gMPf-VKQ), this #ROBOTHON is our respond to the #NRR2030 National Robotics Roadmap launched in 2022 targeting in developing more industry-relevant talents in robotics and innovating marketable solutions solving problems from industry especially in manufacturing, agriculture and services related to F&B and healthcare but not limited to just these areas.

We are looking to select 20 teams that will be provided a base mobile robot kit either based on SCUTTLE Intel AMR Kit or SCUTTLE+Pi VIAM App Bundle to solve the given challenges. You can read more about the specific industry challenges to be solved with autonomous mobile robotics #AMR technologies from this link – https://lnkd.in/gu5tvmFb

To register your interest and take part in the ROBOTHON Launching & Ideation Weekend on 9th -11th June, please sign up here – https://lnkd.in/ga5d2gds

ROBOTHON 2023 GUIDELINES

High Level Summary of the Competition & Important Dates are shown below:

The competition will be conducted in 3 Rounds:

(1) Preliminary Round
Teams will submit proposals by 30th June 2023 and shortlisted proposals will be announced by 15th July 2023. Only 20 successful teams will selected to design and develop their prototypes between mid July and mid-Sep 2023.

These 20 teams will be judged, tentatively by mid Sep to select 10 teams to compete in the Semi Final Round, targeting at end of Sep.

(2) Semi Final Round
Judging will be conducted in a physical setting by independent judges from industry and academia. Top 6 teams will be identified to continue in the Final Round, targeting at end of Sep.

(3) Final Round
Judging will be conducted by independent judges (together with teams from ROBOFUN Hackathons) to select the 3 Best Teams with the most innovative solutions . Innovative and marketable solutions will be paired with industry partners providing the challenge statements for the hackathon.

General Information*:
1. While not anticipated, these rules and prizes are subject to changes at the discretion of the organisers at any time.
2. Judging will be done by a panel of independent judges. All decisions made by the judges for the preliminary rounds, semi-finals and finals are final and are not subject to appeal.
3. MRANTI and SCUTTLE Robotics reserve the right to disqualify any teams who violate the rules, regulations or spirit of the competition.
4. Recording and photography of all presentation materials and demo materials are prohibited in this challenge.

Team Eligibility:
1. The challenge is open to all current registered students (including high school, undergraduate, and postgraduate students). All participants must be Malaysian, Permanent Residents (PR) or international students with valid student visa and faculty members of Malaysia-based secondary and tertiary education institutions, including university, college and polytechnic.
2. Each team must have at least one (1) active registered student at the participating school or university during the finale of the hackathon to be eligible to win any prizes.
2. Participation of members from industry and other schools or universities are encouraged.

Team Size and Composition:
1. Each team must have at least 2 but not more than 5 members.
2. Each individual team member may participate in one team only. If any team member is in multiple teams, all those teams will be disqualified.
3. Each team is allowed to include supervisor from the respective schools, university or industry.

Proposal Submission requirements:
1. The proposal submitted for this challenge must be an original work of the team.
2. The University teams may reuse their course projects, research projects, or maker projects developed by them in this challenge.
3. All proposals submitted for this challenge must not be a project previously submitted for another contest.
4. Each team may only submit one project proposal. In the event of multiple submissions by a team, the last submission made by the team will be accepted for the contest.
5. All proposals are to be written in English or Bahasa Malaysia.
6. The due date for proposal submission is on 30th June 2023. Any proposal submitted later than 00:00am on 1st July, 2023 will not be accepted.

PROPOSAL SELECTION CRITERIA*

The team submission must be from any of the categories described earlier. The submission package must include:

1. Title of Proposed Project

2. Executive Summary (maximum 200 words) (20%)
2.1 Please include the brief description of project, specific challenge the proposal is addressing, literature reviews, objectives, methodology and expected outcomes from the project

3. Detailed Project Proposal
3.1 Project background including problem statement (20%)
3.2 Objective(s) of the Project (20%)
This project embarks on the following objectives:
1. To investigate …
2. To assess …
3. To develop …
4. To make recommendation based on …

4. Methodology (40%)
4.1 Expected Outcome of the Project
Teams are encouraged to make modifications of the AMR to suit and solve the challenges in specific industry.

PRELIMINARY ROUND

• Total of 20 proposal submissions will be shortlisted for the Preliminary Roung where teams will develop their concept into a working prototype between June and Sep 2023. Shortlisted teams will be notified by email on 30th June 2023.
• By mid Sep 2023, a Preliminary Judging will be conducted to identify 10 projects to progress to the Semi Final Round. Teams will be judged based on the following criteria:
  • Design (30%)
  • Innovation (30%)
  • Project Value (20%)
  • Demonstration (20%)

SEMI-FINAL ROUND

• Semi Final and Final Rounds will be held by end of September 2023, and will be done physically. All shortlisted semi-finalists will first submit a video presenting the solutions, with duration of maximum of 7 minutes total video duration.
• A total of 6 teams shortlisted for the Final Round.
• The judges will assess each team’s set-up at the physical event. The 10 projects will be judged based on the following criteria;
  • Technology Readiness (25%)
  • Innovation (25%)
  • Marketability (30%)
  • Impact to Industry or Community (20%)

FINAL ROUND

• Final Round will be immediately conducted after the Semi Final Round by end of Sep 2023, and will be done physically.
• Each finalist team will take part in a 10 minutes team presentation before a panel of judges and a 5 minutes question and answer session. The panel of judges will have representation from respective industry, relevant agencies and venture building ecosystem.
• The final judging will be based on the following criteria;
  • Solutions Readiness (30%)
  • Product Market Fit and Potential (30%)
  • Team Composition (20%)
  • Oral Presentation (10%)
• The results will be announced upon completion of the final round.
• A total of 3 Most Innovative Solutions will be selected that have potential to be accelerated into a Minimum Viable Product and to be paired with industry partners sponsoring the Challenge Statements for the next stage of developing their solution to the specific market needs.

LEARN-TO-BUILD Learning Program

Core to ROBOTHON is the Learn-to-Build flexible, scalable learning program available in 3 levels for learners from different education and working background.

The program will be open to all students and working professionals keen on learning the basics of mobile robots, assemble and program them to be able to either perform a simple following an object routine or a full autonomous capability with simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM) feature.

What Will You Learn?
One can start with a basic mobile robot, a SCUTTLE Robots V2.4 or V3.0 that comes with a Raspberry Pi programmable using Python (in Level 1). To jump start the learning we are leveraging the VIAM App platform to configure your 1st SCUTTLE robot (https://docs.viam.com/tutorials/configure/scuttlebot/)

In Level 1 – Learn category, you can jump start your introduction to robotics by attending our SCUTTLE101, a 1-Day Introduction to Mobile Robotics Workshop with VIAM App; covering assembly the mechanical and electrical sub-systems, setting up the robot with a Raspberry Pi and USB camera using VIAM App and then test the basic function of controlling the robot using the computer keyboard.

In development is an HRDF Claimable, 3 to 4 days workshop to further your knowledge in developing several basic functions of a mobile robots namely object following, line following and collision avoidance which will also leverage our partnership with VIAM Robotics i.e. https://docs.viam.com/tutorials/services/color-detection-scuttle/ for Object Following Robot and https://docs.viam.com/tutorials/services/webcam-line-follower-robot/ for Line Following Robot (typical feature for an AGV, automated guided vehicle commonly used in manufacturing environment). You will have your own robot, SCUTTLE V3.0 when you attend this 3-4 days workshop (included as part of the training program). Details of SCUTTLE Robot v3.0 is shown below;

You will have an option to further upgrade your SCUTTLE robot with PI to have a full autonomous capability with SLAM (simultaneous localisation and mapping) by including a 2D lidar.

In Level 2 – Innovate category, participants can continue to develop specific solutions to the given industry challenges using the SCUTTLE V3.0 with Viam App. Furthermore, they can opt to learn the components for a full features of an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) with the SCUTTLE – Intel AMR kit, assembly the robot, setting up the Intel computer with Linux, and programming using ROS 2 (Robot Operating System 2). The full 4 days training overview and content are as shown below;

The 4-days AMR training program will be piloted in the ROBOFUN and ROBOTHON programs intended for university students and lecturers. A version for industry professionals under HRDF claimable scheme will be released before end of 2023.

ROBOTHON Industry Design Challenge

To express your interest to participate in any of the training programs or industry design challenges, please share us your details by click on this link – https://forms.gle/5ZjoC4JKhtFmkYW38