— Article in collaboration with Exotec —

10 days ago I had the great pleasure of attending the announcementExo-Legend #2 to write a short report and discover this unique event of its kind. Exolegend, initiated by Exotec, is a robotics programming hackathon taking place in Lille at BTWIN Village from February 16th to 18th.

As you can imagine, this is not a simple event, but an immersive experience in which participants have to face the challenge of programming robots that have to evolve through a maze and fight against their fellow robots.

As a reminder, Exotec is a company that develops automated systems for factories and warehouses. In particular, they develop the Skypoda robot that allows companies to automate all logistics management in their warehouses.

Already used by Decathlon, Carrefour, Geodis, etc., this robot is capable of transporting up to 30 kg of goods to prepare orders, reaching speeds of up to 4 meters per second and in less than 2 minutes accesses each product mentioned. It is also very maneuverable and can move in three dimensions (yes, it climbs up to 12 meters) without the need for complex infrastructure.

Exolegend’s goal is to make its know-how known but also to recruit the most talented engineers. The program for this 2024 edition is quite captivating, you will see. Participants in this hackathon do not need to be robotics experts and have a simulator and robots ready to use. And your challenge will be to program these robots in C++ to take on different missions in the following subject areas:

1. Conquest of territories : Participants must use 2 robots to paint as many areas of the arena as possible with yellow or blue paint.
2. Navigation and strategy : The aim here is to control the robots through the arena, avoid obstacles and use effective tactics to dominate the space as much as possible.
3. Defense and Attack : Teams must protect their own robots while attacking opponents, including exploding the balloon attached to the robots.
4. Limited time and shrinking terrain : Games last 120 seconds and the maze gets smaller regularly. The goal is to win by covering the largest area and eliminating the largest number of enemies.

The event will bring together 50 teams led by 60 Exotec experts, ready to compete in a simulated arena and four real arenas. The best participants will be rewarded with attractive prizes, including coaching and DJI-branded drones.

This hackathon is open to everyone, whether you register alone or as a team, and does not require a registration fee. Registrations are closed this year with more than 150 participants, but the public is welcome to attend the finale and meet robot pilots on Sunday February 18th from 9am to 4pm at the Btwin Village in Lille.

All information can be found at Exo legend here.