Singapore has opened its first national-level competition focused on embodied AI and robotics, with organisers offering a total prize pool of S$88,000, TNGlobal reported.
The Singapore Embodied AI Challenge for Manufacturing was announced on Wednesday by the National Robotics Program (NRP), the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), PINE Lab@NTU and chipmaker Micron Technology. The top prize is S$50,000.
According to A*STAR, the contest is among the first embodied AI competitions worldwide to be built around a real-world use case supplied by an industry partner. Its first edition centres on semiconductor manufacturing.
The task
Teams will program robots on a robotic embodiment platform to carry out manipulation work inside a 3D mock-up chamber developed by Micron. Tasks include opening the chamber, removing and reinstalling components, carrying out inspections, cleaning surfaces and completing reassembly.
The challenge is open to teams from anywhere in the world, with between one and five members each. Students, engineers, roboticists, AI researchers, startups and multidisciplinary teams are eligible, and organisers are strongly encouraging collaboration between academia and industry.
Partners
Micron is providing sponsorship funding and technical expertise to shape the challenge. Infineon Technologies is supplying sensor technologies, while Galbot is contributing the robotic platform, a developer toolkit, robot hardware and support for real-world data collection.
Lightwheel and the National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore are supporting infrastructure for simulation, benchmarking, evaluation and AI cloud computing. PINE Lab@NTU is co-creating the proving ground.
Joshua Lee, Corporate Vice President and Singapore Country Manager at Micron Technology, said the challenge aims to “empower the next generation of talent in Singapore”.
Tung Meng Fai, Executive Director of NRP, extended an open invitation to participants from around the world.
What’s next
An online simulation phase is under way and runs until 31 December 2026. Participants receive simulation data, synthetic datasets, baseline models and evaluation tools, and the highest-scoring teams will move on to onsite finals. Shortlisted overseas teams can apply for travel subsidies.
The finals will be held on 20 March 2027 at RoboSG! 2027, NRP’s biennial flagship robotics event. Finalists will deploy their solutions in a physical arena and complete set assembly tasks within a limited time, with rankings based on the number of operational steps completed successfully.
