CANBERRA, Australia, June 10 (UPI) -- Australia's military is sponsoring a competition in which the country's universities will help in development of next-generation robotics technology.
The Autonomous Ground Vehicles Competition, sponsored by the Defense Science and Technology Organization and led by Deakin University, will enable students to gain theoretical and practical knowledge of robotics in production of autonomous vehicles.
Alex Zelinsky, the organizatin's chief defense scientist, said robotics was already helping soldiers but "the technology needs further development so that robots can operate with less human supervision and greater cooperation between themselves to accomplish a mission."
"This competition is an opportunity for university students from across Australia to push the technology envelope and develop robotic systems with higher levels of autonomy than is presently possible," he said. "We hope this competition will also stimulate the development of Australia's research and innovation in emerging technologies such as robotic."
In the competition, university teams will field robots that can independently negotiate an outdoor obstacle course.
