Following an earlier announcement that the UK city of Milton Keynes is once again to host a Smart City challenge in September, euRobotics joins the event organisers in inviting the robotics community to enter teams for the competition (see below for details of how to enter).  

The MK Smart City Robotics Competition has asked all partners to share the following information, which was written for a wider, more general audience: 

“Teams from universities, colleges, companies, and laboratories across Europe will be competing at the MK Smart City Robotics Competition in Milton Keynes in September 2023 to showcase how their robots can solve a range of challenges designed to support everyday life. 

The scenarios, that for many of us sound like simple menial tasks, are far more complex for robots and have proven to be real challenges within the sector. Teams will be competing live to solve them   through different designs targeted at delivering coffee orders, opening a door, taking an elevator, picking and packing shopping and fetching an item.  

The MK Smart City Robotics Competition builds on the success of previous competitions under the Sci Roc project including one in Milton Keynes in 2019, and another in Bologna, Italy in 2021.  

Supported by a range of public, academic and commercial partners including Milton Keynes Council, centre:mk, Ocado, Cranfield University and University of Buckingham, with more supporters to be announced soon.  

Hosting the event for the second time is centre:mk, a leading shopping destination in the heart of Milton Keynes, one of the UK’s newest and fastest growing Smart Cities.  

Kevin Duffy, Centre Director at centre:mk said: “We are delighted to be hosting this event. Centre:mk sits at the heart of Milton Keynes, a pioneer of robotics, smart technology and artificial intelligence and we are excited to have the opportunity to support an event that challenges and advances the capabilities of these technologies.” 

Teams wishing to enter should visit the ERL website for further information on the episodes and can use this form to express their interest. For sponsorship opportunities, please contact: ian.pulford@smccl.co.uk