The Hack My Robot Challenge aims to raise awareness about the cybersecurity aspects of increasingly digitalized construction environments with a particular focus on robotics. Students who want to learn more about operational technology security, robotics, and construction technologies are invited to attend. The participants will be challenged to come up with ideas to compromise the data and operations of the given robotic system considering the characteristics of construction sites.
This challenge is organized by the S.M.A.R.T. Construction Research Group with the support and collaboration from the Center for Cybersecurity (CCS) at NYUAD and the Center for AI and Robotics (CAIR) at NYUAD.
The competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in any university in the MENA region.
Click on the below button for all the details:
The challenge consists of two rounds:
Round 1 (Qualification Round and Registration): The first round requires the participating teams to fill out a Google Form to register for the challenge and answer the provided open-ended questions.
Please check the above link (Detailed Overview of the Challenge) before proceeding with the registration!
Click on the "Register Now" button below to register and answer the open-ended questions for Round 1.
Round 2 (Final Demos and Presentations): Based on the responses from the first round, five teams will be chosen and invited to NYUAD to participate in the second round during CSAW'26 (13 November), where they will need to demonstrate some of the ideas indicated in Round 1.
First place cash prize: US$1,000.
Second place cash prize: US$750.
Third place cash prize: US$500.
All five teams selected based on Round 1 will keep the provided robots after the event*. The total cost of the provided equipment for each finalist team is approximately US$800.
The winning team members will have the possibility of paid research/internship opportunities to expand the outcome of their work during the challenge into a scientific publication.
The finalist teams will get to meet a group of judges from industry and academia and present their ideas to them.
*The finalist teams are allowed to keep the provided equipment after the competition with the condition of participating in the final round. If, for any reason, a team does not participate in the final round, all the provided equipment must be returned to the Hack My Robot competition organizers.
1 September 2026 – Qualification Round and Registrations Start
30 September 2026 – Qualification Round and Registrations Deadline
3 October 2026 – Finalist Notification
5 – 12 October 2026 – Finalist Teams Receiving the Robots
13 November 2026 – Final Demos and Presentations