Advanced Robotics

The DOT Bots Challenge was launched under DOT’s Advanced Robotics Initiative. Through this Challenge, DOT is seeking ideas for applying advanced robotics technologies to existing or emerging public-sector transportation challenges in order to enhance safety for workers and travelers, improve how transportation infrastructure is built, maintained, and operated, and encourage innovation.

• Challenge Opens: Wednesday, June 24, 2026
• Challenge Closes: Monday, August 10, 2026, 5:00 PM Eastern
   

No

No. A separate application package must be completed for each submission. Teams are encouraged to focus on quality over quantity.

The DOT Bots Challenge Statement (Stage I) includes comprehensive information including submission instructions, prize information, eligibility requirements, evaluation criteria, and rules. Any questions not addressed in this document should be submitted to robotics@dot.gov.

Projects must focus on robotics technology as defined below:

“Electromechanical devices that are capable of locomotion, navigation, or movement and operate at a distance from one or more operators or supervisors based on commands or in response to sensor data, or through any combination thereof.”

Concepts focused on automated vehicles/Automated Driving Systems are not eligible.
 

No. To be eligible to receive a prize, all teams must meet the criteria described in the Eligibility Requirements section. Specifically, a private entity applicant must be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the United States and applicant individuals, whether participating singly or in a group must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States.

Federal employees or entities acting within the scope of their employment are not eligible.

No. There is no limit on the number of team members who can contribute to a submission. However, all listed entities or individuals must meet the requirements in the Eligibility Requirements section.

To be considered a complete entry, the following items are required. 

• Official Intake Form
• Narrative document (see Stage I Challenge Statement for detailed requirements)
• Slide Deck (see template)

See the “How to Enter” section of the Challenge statement for specific file and naming requirements and submittal instructions.

The “How to Enter” section provides specific formatting and submission requirements.

The Narrative document should include the following elements, all of which should be in 12-pont standard font with 1-inch margins:

• Cover page (1 page)
• Executive summary (1 page)
• Concept paper (10-page limit)
• Work plan/schedule for Stage II participation (1-4 pages)
• Appendices
   

The “How to Enter” section provides specific formatting and submission requirements. The slide deck should be no more than two slides and should use the template found here.

Any use of AI tools (i.e., generative AI or large language model [LLM, e.g., ChatGPT]) in the preparation of the design submission must be disclosed. If AI tools were used, indicate what AI tool(s) were used, the approximate percentage of the document that was generated or assisted by AI, and briefly describe the purpose (e.g., language enhancement, content generation) of such use. Each team or applicant remains fully responsible for verifying the accuracy, originality, and ethical integrity of all content, including AI-generated portions. DOT reserves the right to reject any challenge submission that may have used AI in an unethical or illegal manner.

No. Federal grantees or recipients of Federal cooperative agreements may not use Federal funds to develop submissions for this Challenge unless consistent with the purpose of their grant award or cooperative agreement; and Federal contractors may not use Federal funds from a contract to develop prize competition applications or to fund efforts in support of a prize competition submission.

Yes

Submissions will be evaluated by a multidisciplinary technical review team of DOT experts representing various backgrounds in robotics, transportation planning, transportation policy, and engineering. The panel will assess how effectively each concept demonstrates the potential for improving public-sector transportation operations. Submissions will be judged against the criteria listed in the Judging Criteria section of the Challenge Statement:

• Team Composition, Qualifications, and Project Eligibility
• Technical Merit
• Impact and Availability
• Potential Market
• Innovation and Creativity
   

No, the package that reviewers receive will include the submitting organization. All submissions will be reviewed according to the evaluation rubric found in the Challenge Statement.

In Stage I, the review team will rely solely on the documents submitted. Stage II finalists will have the opportunity to demonstrate their solutions. Additional information on Stage II demonstrations will be provided at a later date.

The DOT Bots Challenge consists of two stages. Teams will compete for an overall prize purse of up to $1,500,000.

• Stage I Proof-of-Concept: Total prize funds awarded = Up to $500,000.
  • Up to 5 finalists will be selected 
  • Each will receive $100,000 upon selection as a Finalist 
• Stage II Demonstration: Total prize funds awarded = $1,000,000 
  • One winner will receive $1,000,000 

Cash prizes awarded under this Challenge will be paid to the designated Team Lead directly by DOT through electronic funds transfer. Winner(s) will be responsible for any applicable local, State, and Federal taxes and reporting that may be required under applicable tax laws. DOT will comply with Internal Revenue Service withholding and reporting requirements, where applicable. For proposals submitted by a team, following payment to the Team Lead, DOT will not be involved in determining how prize money is divided or distributed amongst the team members.

In addition to the cash prizes, winners will receive national recognition:

• Stage II Live Demonstrations: Finalists will have the opportunity to demonstrate their concepts to senior DOT officials. 
• Feature: Winning submissions will be featured on official DOT communication platforms, and potentially a live event, serving as exemplars for future projects.

Applicants can utilize intellectual property developed prior to this prize competition as a part of their submission. Neither the DOT nor anyone acting on its behalf will obtain any rights in intellectual property developed prior to or during this prize competition without the prior written consent of the participant. By participating in the prize competition, the Participant is not granting rights in any patents, pending patent applications, or copyrights related to the technology described in their submission. However, by submitting their entry, the participant is granting the DOT and any parties acting on its behalf certain limited rights as set forth herein. By virtue of their submission to this prize competition, participants grant to DOT and any parties acting on their behalf the right to:

• Review, screen, and evaluate submitted materials per the Evaluation Criteria as detailed below.
• Use the submitted materials in formulation and establishment of DOT research programs. 
• Describe the submission in any materials created in connection with this prize competition.

Participant further grants the DOT, and anyone acting on its behalf the right to publicize participant’s name and, as applicable, the name of participant’s team members and/or the name of any Entity that assisted in preparing participant’s submission. Such authority includes posting or linking to the participant’s submission on DOT websites, including the Challenge website, and inclusion of the participant’s submission in any other media, worldwide, subject to the above restrictions relating to confidential business information. More specifically, such authority includes the right to copy, distribute, publicly display, and publicly perform all parts of Participant’s submission that would not otherwise be exempt from disclosure under FOIA.

Challenge submissions and communication with DOT are subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA, 5 U.S.C. § 552). If the application includes information that the applicant considers to be a trade secret or confidential commercial or financial information, the applicant should do the following: (1) Note on the front cover that the submission “Contains Confidential Business Information (CBI)”; (2) mark each affected page “CBI”; and (3) clearly highlight or otherwise denote the paragraph and sentences that contains CBI. DOT protects such information from disclosure to the extent allowed under applicable law. In the event DOT receives a FOIA request for the information, DOT will follow the procedures described in its FOIA regulations at 49 CFR 7.29. Only information that is ultimately determined to be confidential under that procedure will be exempt from disclosure under FOIA. DOT reserves the right to proactively publish any application information that is not marked as CBI.

Questions related to the Challenge may be submitted to robotics@dot.gov.