The Mohamed Bin Zayed International Robotics Challenge (MBZIRC) will be held in the United Arab Emirates capital, Abu Dhabi, in June 2023. Tech innovators will participate with marine safety and security solutions for the chance to take home more than $3 million in prize money.

Organized by ASPIRE, the dedicated technology program management pillar of the Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), the overarching advanced technology research body in Abu Dhabi, MBZIRC is held every two years. The upcoming edition, called “MBZIRC Maritime Grand Challenge,” focuses on real-time solutions to maritime safety and security challenges and seeks to be among the largest and most prestigious AI and robotics competitions in the world.

The challenge is open to international universities, research institutions, companies and individual innovators from all over the world. It will involve a heterogeneous collaboration among unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned surface vehicles to perform complex navigation and manipulation tasks in a GNSS-denied environment.

Interested teams must complete the registration process at: www.mbzirc.com. Registration is open until December 30, 2021.

The challenge will show how both the entities focus on niche areas of technology, while attracting global innovators to stimulate ideas, encourage collaboration, and push boundaries in advanced technologies to find systems solutions to global challenges.