Czech Technical-UPenn-NYU Team Wins Grand Challenge in US$5-Million MBZIRC2020 organized by Khalifa University

H.E. Dr. Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili, Member of the Executive Council, and Chairman of Department of Community Development today honored the Grand Challenge team winners Czech Technical University-University of Pennsylvania-NYU and winners of the three Challenge categories at the three-day US$5-million Mohamed Bin Zayed International Robotics Challenge (MBZIRC) 2020 that concluded in Abu Dhabi, organizers Khalifa University of Science and Technology announced today.

The winning teams in all three categories – Challenge 1, 2, and 3 – also received awards from H.E. Dr. Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili at the ceremony.

His Excellency Hussein Bin Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Steering Committee General Chair, MBZIRC 2020, Dr. Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Steering Committee General Co-Chair, and His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Al Mualla, Steering Committee Member, were present.

Others who attended the ceremony included UAE government officials, Challenge partners, stakeholders from the academia, research, and industry, as well as all the MBZIRC 2020 team members.

The Czech Technical University-University of Pennsylvania-NYU team won the first position in the Grand Challenge. The University of Bonn team came second, while the combined team of Universidad Politecnica Madrid-Universidad Pablo Olvide Poznan University of Technology- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique won the third place.

The Beijing Institute of Technology topped Challenge 1 category with the Czech Technical University-University of Pennsylvania-NYU team and the University of Tokyo in the second and third places, respectively, while the Czech Technical University-University of Pennsylvania-NYU team won the Challenge 2 category with Nimbro (University of Bonn) and Technical University of Denmark in the second and third places. Challenge 3 was won by University of Seville-Tecnico Lisboa-CATEC team, while the Technical University of Denmark and the University of New South Wales-Sydney tied for the second place.

The 32 finalists, representing 17 countries, were shortlisted out of 134 teams from across the globe that applied to compete in MBZIRC 2020.

Dr. Arif Sultan Al Hammadi said: “The second edition of MBZIRC has emphatically placed MBZIRC as one of the most prestigious competitions in robotics and artificial intelligence globally, while positioning Khalifa University as the leading higher education institution driving innovation in all areas of science, engineering, and newly-emerging technologies.”

Dr. Al Hammadi added: “Congratulations to all the winners of MBZIRC 2020, especially the Grand Challenge winner and winners of all three Challenge categories. However, all the participating teams deserve credit for their commitment, determination and perseverance during the competition, consistently raising the bar of excellence as displayed by various autonomous drones. Through this Challenge, we have witnessed how technology continues to evolve and we firmly believe the advancements demonstrated by these UAVs and UGVs will very soon become part of our everyday lives.”