Student and university information

Students of all levels from all universities across Australia are invited to enter and may be partnered up with an industry partner or develop an idea of their own. Entry into the competition includes the option to attend free industry-run seminars on important everyday business areas such as OH&S, finance, law and presentation skills. Prizes will also be awarded to the winning individual and/or group.

Universities are also invited to include the competition as a main project within a subject curriculum, providing students with a strong connection to industrial employers and real-world situations. The competition may also be suitable for final-year project topics.

Participating universities also have the opportunity to take advantage of up to 50 FREE Robot Studio software licenses provided by ABB, which is used to design, program and simulate robot cells as close to real life as possible.

Suitable for single semester or year long projects, the first round submission stage is scheduled for submission on September 25, 2009 with the final round of judging scheduled to take place on October 9, 2009. The final prize presentation will be held during the last week of October at the ABB site in Notting Hill, Victoria.

Students wishing to participate should fill in a registration form which can be obtained from here.


See the sections below for more detailed information

Free Robot Studio Software licenses

Project Sourcing Submission Requirements

Free Robot Studio Software licenses

Universities participating in the National Robotics Innovation Competition are eligible for up to 50 one-year network user licenses for Robot Studio 5.09 – free of charge.

Robot Studio is a sophisticated piece of software which allows one to design, program and simulate complete robot cells just like in real life. This is a great learning tool for any university and is worth over $100,000.

To take advantage of this offer, please contact the robotics division of ABB via email on robots@au.abb.com or via the ABB help line on 1800 ABB HELP (1800 222 4357) for more information.



Project Sourcing

Whilst students may develop their own ideas for the competition, we strongly encourage collaboration with industry for projects in order to obtain a more realistic view of specifications and constraints involved in real world situations. Examples of past projects can be found here.

Students may approach businesses independently, or alternatively, there will be a number of industry partner projects made available by competition organisers.

To request an industry partner, please fill in the form available from here and submit to robots@au.abb.com.



Submission Requirements

The National Robotics Innovation Competition consists of two rounds, occurring in the second half of 2009. As the starting date of student projects will vary, every effort has been made to ensure equality in selection for each round.

First Round Submission requirements – Students must submit one A4 page summary (double-sided allowed) of their project in the form of a project proposal. The project proposal is written with the aim of convincing a Board of Directors to adopt or invest in your proposal, and hence give you the opportunity to present before them.

It is likely to be made up of two parts – the project description and the business justification. More detailed information will be made available closer to the submission date.

Final Round Submission requirements – Finalists will be asked to present their proposal in a one hour presentation to a Board of Directors made up of industry professionals. The presentation should essentially aim to get the Board to ‘accept’ your proposal.

It should cover the financial, safety, productivity and quality elements, as well as any implementation plans and any other major selling points which may be useful in swaying the judges. More detailed information will be available closer to the submission date.