$8
per symbol
Cyvl Challenge 2027
Build the robot. Win $50K.
Build a real autonomous road-marking robot in one academic year. Cyvl gives every selected team $10K cash plus roughly $15K in sensors. The winner takes $50K and gets job offers at Cyvl.
Massachusetts colleges · 3–6 students · Independent teams + clubs
Perceive · plan · paint · verify
Eligible schools
Massachusetts colleges and universities
Core team
3–6 students
Team format
Independent teams or student clubs
Organizer
Cyvl
Club teams should identify the 3–6 core members who will lead the build.
The old way
Four people. Stencils. Paint. Live traffic.
Cities still lay out, align, and paint road markings by hand. Crews repeat the same dangerous process at every intersection.
We’re going to automate the whole job with robots.
Win conditions
The 10× targets
2 min
per symbol
0
people in the lane
<$25K
total cost per robot
Targets, not benchmarks. Teams will lock the real spec with our DPW partner.
What you build
One machine. Six hard problems.
Truck-mounted, trailer-towed, or self-deploying. The form factor is yours.
Perception
Read the intersection
Localization
Hold millimeters
Mechanism
Move the nozzle
Materials
Lay down real paint
Autonomy
Decide and verify
Safety
Stop for traffic
Your build package
You bring the team. We bring the budget, sensors, and streets.
Every selected team gets $10K cash to spend on the robot, plus roughly $15K in Cyvl sensing hardware. Your mission: build the complete robot for under $25K.
$10K cash
Yours to spend on the robot build
~$15K
LiDAR, 360° cameras, and sensors
Real roads
Road data, test site, and city access
Cyvl crew
Engineers, compute, and shop space
One academic year
Four gates. One working robot.
Sep – Oct
Scope
Gate · Signed target spec
Nov – Dec
Prove
Gate · Three bench demos
Jan – Mar
Integrate
Gate · Ten symbols, one run
Apr – May
Demo
Gate · Paint on real road
Win the challenge
$50K
Awarded to the winning team
Win it. Then come work at Cyvl.
The winning team receives an additional $50,000, plus guaranteed internship or full-time offers to keep building the system with us.