THE HON. GREG COMBET MP
Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science
Monday, 2 November 2009
092/2009
TEAMS SHORTLISTED TO DO BATTLE IN ROBOT
CHALLENGE
Twelve teams from five countries have been shortlisted to compete in the first round
of the MAGIC 2010 robot challenge, the Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and
Science, Greg Combet, announced today.
The Multi-Autonomous Ground-robotic International Challenge (MAGIC), jointly
sponsored by the Defence Science & Technology Organisation and US Department
of Defense, invited worldwide proposals to develop teams of fully autonomous robots
for military operations.
Twenty-three entries were received from USA, Canada, Poland, Japan, South Korea,
Turkey and Australia.
“The quality of the submissions was very strong and exceeded our expectations.
Consequently, twelve teams have been selected to progress their projects to the next
stage of the challenge,” said Mr Combet.
“Ten of these teams will receive $US50,000 to develop their proposals instead of the
original plan to fund only five teams. The remaining two teams have the opportunity
to self-fund their projects.”
Of the twelve teams, five are from the United States, four from Australia, and one
each from Canada, Japan and Turkey.
“Most of the teams comprise partnerships between universities and companies that
are at the forefront of robotics technology, such as Cornell University, Carnegie
Mellon Robotics Institute, General Dynamics, Thales Australia and the University of
Adelaide.”
The shortlisted teams will be reduced to five in June 2010 when each of these five
finalists will receive an additional $US50,000 to complete their projects for the Grand
Challenge Event to be held in South Australia in November 2010.
“I congratulate the shortlisted teams and wish them success on the second phase of
the competition,” Mr Combet said.
The aim of the MAGIC initiative is to develop robots capable of operating fully
autonomously in conducting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions,
making such operations safer for military personnel.
(Note for media: Complete list of shortlisted teams is attached)
Media contacts:
Rod Hilton (Mr Combet)
02 6277 7620 or 0458 276 619
Stephen Butler (DSTO)
08 8259 6923 or 0418 800 323
Defence Media Liaison
02 6265 3343 or 0408 498 664
SHORTLISTED TEAMS TO BE FUNDED FOR MAGIC 2010
Australia
1
MAGICIAN, University of Western Australia (Robotics and Automation
Laboratory, Adaptive Systems Research Group), Flinders University (Artificial Intelligence
and Intelligent Systems Laboratories), Edith Cowan University (Artificial Intelligence and
Software Engineering Cluster), Thales Australia (D3S&A, Naval Division), ILLIARC Pty
Ltd.
2
STRATEGIC ENGINEERING (an Australian robotics company specialising in advanced
sensing, vision systems, autonomous vehicles, industrial robotics and field robotic
platforms), with the University of Adelaide.
Canada
3
NORTHERN HUNTERS – Canada (Comprising Amtech Aeronautical Ltd, Scientific
Instrumentation Ltd, Royal Military College of Canada.
Japan
4
CHIBA TEAM/Chiba University – Japan (Comprising Chiba University and Analytical
Software Inc.)
Turkey
5
CAPPADOCIA – Turkey (Comprising ASELSAN (Turkish military electronics company)
with Bilkent University, Bogazici University, Middle East Technical University from Turkey,
and Ohio State University (Control & Intelligent Transportation Research Lab) of the USA.
USA
6
RASR - Reconnaissance and Autonomy for Small Robots Team - USA (Lead: Robotics
Research, LLC; with Industry Partners: General Dynamics Robotic Systems, Qinetic-NA,
Del Services, Cedar Creek Defence University, Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute,
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, University of Michigan.)
7
TEAM CORNELL, Cornell University – USA (School of Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering.)
8
TEAM MICHIGAN - USA (Comprising SoarTech with research support from the University
of Michigan.)
9
VIRGINIA TECH – USA (Department of Mechanical Engineering).
10
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA – USA (With BAE Systems as auxiliary team
members.)
Teams shortlisted for self-funding
Australia
11 NUMINENCE - Australia (Comprising Numinence Pty Ltd and LaTrobe University with
support from ten small companies).
12 UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES - Australia (Teaming with Kumamoto University,
Japan, and University of Western Sydney).
NEWS 
