About the challenge
UTRA Hacks is a 2-day robotics hackathon hosted by the University of Toronto Robotics Association (UTRA). Student teams come together to collaborate, learn, and build hands-on robotics projects with guidance from mentors and workshops. With many talented individuals and industry talks, this hackathon is a great networking opportunity as well!
This year's challenge is inspired by the Winter Olympics where teams must design and build a robot that navigates a olympic-style course. The robot must interaction with objects and follow the necessary parths, testing principles of perception, logic, and creativity. There are no limitations on how the robot is designed (as long as it is with hardware provided in the kit), so get creative!!
Winners will be announced on the last day of the hackathon (February 1, 2026).
Get started
All hardware hackers may need will be provided during the hackathon. Note that registering on Devpost does not grant access to the event. You must register through UTRA Hacks 2026 application process which can be found on the official website.
Requirements
What to Build
UTRA Hacks will consist of a closed challenge to be presented on the day of the event. Specifications and workshops required to develop projects will be revealed during the Hackathon. Teams will design and build a physical robot using the provided hardware kit to complete the UTRA Hacks 2026 challenge. Hacker packages containing the challenge and its specifics will be given once the hackathon begins.
What to Submit
There will be no online project submission on Devpost.
Teams will be evaluated in person based on a brief presentation of their design, strategy, and implementation, as well as a live run of their robot on the challenge course.
Prizes
UTRA Hacks 2026: 1st Place - ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 (2025)
Awarded to the team that scores highest overall on the track and presentation portions. Refer to the hacker package for score criteria.
UTRA Hacks 2026: 2nd Place - ASUS TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition (2023)
Awarded to the team that scores second highest overall on the track and presentation portions. Refer to the hacker package for score criteria.
UTRA Hacks 2026: 3rd Place - MSI Radeon RX 6600 XT GAMING X 8G (graphics card)
Awarded to the team that scores second highest overall on the track and presentation portions. Refer to the hacker package for score criteria.
Best Beginner Hack - POCO X7 Pro — Iron Man limited edition set
Awarded to a beginner team with the highest score(track and presentation). Beginner teams are teams of which beginners (1st time hackers) make up the majority (>=50%) of the team.
Cleanest Code - ROG Xbox Ally
Awarded to the highest scoring team with the cleanest code (descriptive and clear comments, follows clear structure, code is easily readable and understandable).
Best Presentation - CMF Phone 2 Pro (Nothing / CMF)
Awarded to the team which scores highest on their presentation to the judges.
Best Track Course Performance - ASUS ROG Strix G16 (2025)
Awarded to the team which scored highest on the track course portion of the hackathon.
Most Resourceful Design - realme × Game of Thrones phone (limited edition)
Awarded to the team that completes the track within 5 minutes with the least amount of components used from the hacker kit. Note that if the number of components are the same, the team with the highest track score will win.
[MLH] Best Use of Gemini API
Google Swag Kits
It’s time to push the boundaries of what's possible with AI using Google Gemini. Check out the Gemini API to build AI-powered apps that make your friends say WHOA. So, what can Gemini do for your hackathon project?
Understand language like a human and build a chatbot that gives personalized advice
Analyze info like a supercomputer and create an app that summarizes complex research papers
Generate creative content like code, scripts, music, and more
Think of the possibilities… what will you build with the Google Gemini API this weekend?
[MLH] Best Use of Solana
Ledger Nano S Plus
The world of development is evolving fast and Solana is leading the charge with a network built to handle all of your infrastructure needs. Forget high fees and slow confirmations, it’s time to build applications that are fast, efficient, and scalable.
Harness Solana's core advantages like blazing fast execution and near-zero transaction costs to make your hackathon ideas become real world projects. With Solana, the possibilities are endless.
Create a game, social app, or consumer product that relies on instant, high-frequency transactions.
Design a sophisticated trading, lending, or decentralized exchange (DEX).
Build a prototype for supply chain, identity, or payments that can handle massive, real-world volume.
Show us how you can innovate with Solana for a chance to win some cool prizes for you and each member of your team!
[MLH] Best Use of DigitalOcean
Retro Wireless Mouse
DigitalOcean offers a reliable and easy-to-use cloud platform for every stage of your project. Leverage core services like Droplets, Managed Databases, and App Platform to build, deploy, and scale your application effortlessly. Building with AI? DigitalOcean Gradient™ AI enables you to build, train, and deploy machine learning models, including access to GPU infrastructure and serverless inference!
Sign up for DigitalOcean today and get $200 worth of free credits that you can use towards building your next great hack. Build with DigitalOcean's robust cloud infrastructure for a chance to win some great prizes for you and each of your teammates!
[MLH] Best Use of ElevenLabs
Wireless Earbuds
Deploy natural, human-sounding audio with ElevenLabs. Create realistic, dynamic, and emotionally expressive voices for any project, from interactive AI companions to narrated stories and voice-enabled apps. ElevenLabs will empower you to build rich, immersive experiences without the need for actors or complex audio production, using simply the power of AI.
Integrate fully autonomous audio experiences into your hack with ElevenLabs and give your project a voice, along with giving your team the chance to win some wireless earbuds!
[MLH] Best Use of Snowflake API
Arduino Tiny ML Kit
Play with industry-leading LLMs on a single account using the Snowflake APIs. Adding AI capabilities into your application can be as simple as a single CURL command to Snowflake’s REST API.
Build customized applications, RAG powered chat bots, or embed AI-powered features into your app in half the time with half the hassle. Get started for free with a special, student 120-day Snowflake trial and check out this repository for an example of the Snowflake REST API in action.
[MLH] Best Use of MongoDB Atlas
M5Stack IoT Kit
MongoDB Atlas takes the leading modern database and makes it accessible in the cloud! Get started with a $50 credit for students or sign up for the Atlas free forever tier (no credit card required). Along with a suite of services and functionalities, you'll have everything you need to manage all of your data, and you can get a headstart with free resources from MongoDB University! Build a hack using MongoDB Atlas for a chance to win a M5Stack IoT Kit for you and each member of your team.
Devpost Achievements
Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:
Judges
Ben Lusterio-Adler
Yusuf Abderrahman
Sarah Xu
Yijie Wang
Fabian Torres Alvarez
Karthik Ganesan
Rea Ahuja
Bo Yan
Harrison Ossias
Spencer Teetaert
Vraj Prajapati
Meisa Chen
Olga Klushina
Kirti Saxena
Paul Dong
Isabella Ferrara
Anshuman Panwar
David Feldt
Sajeel Purewal
Taemin Lee
Ash Mahmood
Hari Om Chadha
Eshan Sankar
Parker Stewart
Jason Zhou
Nicholas Biancolin
Utkarsh Chadha
Cecilia Li
Oscar Sun
Kate MacQuarrie
Sho Adachi
Jaden Park
Adam Roberge
Connor Wilson
Isaac Picov
Abdus Shaikh
Kalana Abeywardena
Nicholas Nguyen
William Wen
Adalyn Yang
Tae Kim
Judging Criteria
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Picks up box
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Detects Split (Green/Red)
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Ramp (going up)
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Ramp (going down)
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Minimum resets used
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Minimum reuploads used
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Drops off box
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Gets past ring 1 (blue)
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Gets past ring 2 (red)
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Gets past ring 3 (green)
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Gets to centre
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Shoots the ball
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Drops off box
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Avoid all obstacles
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Under 60 seconds for obstacle course
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Picks up box
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Quality of build
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Presentation
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Technicality
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Sustainability
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Q&A
Questions? Email the hackathon manager
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