Zhejiang University team claims $150,000 prize for breakthrough in fully autonomous robotics

A team of students from Zhejiang University has won a $150,000 prize at the ATEC2025 Real-World Extreme Challenge in Hong Kong.

Organized by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the competition saw 13 international teams compete in the first intelligent robotics challenge held entirely outdoors on natural terrain to rest the robots’ ability to operate across hills, steps, and uneven slopes.

With a “no remote control” rule, teams were tasked with developing systems capable of completing complex tasks with self-contained perception, reasoning, decision making, and execution. 

Professor Yunhui Liu, Co-Chair of ATEC2025 and Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering, explains: “This year’s competition sought to answer a fundamental question: Can robots truly leave the lab and adapt to our unpredictable world? Through this challenge, we’re exploring how robots can evolve beyond ‘demo-ready’ toward ‘deployment-ready.’”

The judging panel included 70 experts from across the world, including Lihua Xie, Fellow of the Singapore Academy of Engineering, and Masayoshi Tomizuka, Fellow of the US National Academy of Engineering.

“The algorithms that work flawlessly in simulated environments often crumble under real-world uncertainties,” adds Chengrui Zhu, Leader of the winning team from Zhejiang University. “This competition forced us to rethink how to build robots that can really make decisions by themselves.”