{"id":7488,"date":"2025-06-17T15:03:47","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T13:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ac.upt.ro\/?page_id=7488"},"modified":"2026-11-09T15:06:06","modified_gmt":"2026-11-09T13:06:06","slug":"sec","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ac.upt.ro\/en\/sec\/","title":{"rendered":"Space Engineering Challenge 2026 by AC@UPT"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> <strong>Space Engineering Challenge 2026 \u2013 Mission Accomplished! \ud83c\udf15\ud83e\udd16<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After three incredible days filled with challenges, innovation, excitement, and unforgettable moments, we are proud to say that <strong>Space Engineering Challenge 2026 was a tremendous success!<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From November 6\u20138, Rom\u00e2ne\u0219ti Cave became a unique robotics testing ground, bringing together talented young minds passionate about engineering, technology, and space exploration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> <strong>On behalf of the organizing team, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who made this edition possible:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> <strong>To all participants<\/strong> \u2013 thank you for your enthusiasm, creativity, determination, and impressive engineering solutions!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> <strong>To our sponsors and partners<\/strong> \u2013 thank you for your trust, generosity, and invaluable support in making this event a reality!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83c\udf93 <strong>To the mentors and jury members<\/strong> \u2013 thank you for your dedication, expertise, and valuable feedback provided to the teams!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> <strong>To our volunteers and the entire organizing team<\/strong> \u2013 thank you for your hard work, commitment, and countless hours of effort behind the scenes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> A special thank you to <strong>Professor Kazuya Yoshida from Tohoku University, Japan<\/strong>, for honoring us with his presence, chairing the jury, and inspiring the next generation of engineers and space explorers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> We are also thrilled that our event received <strong>national media coverage! Antena 1 \u2013 Observator<\/strong> featured a special report highlighting the competition and the technologies that could one day contribute to exploring the Moon and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> <strong>Watch the Antena 1 report here:<\/strong><br><a href=\"https:\/\/observatornews.ro\/eveniment\/pestera-din-romania-unde-sunt-testati-robotii-care-vor-fi-trimisi-pe-luna-671610.html\">https:\/\/observatornews.ro\/eveniment\/pestera-din-romania-unde-sunt-testati-robotii-care-vor-fi-trimisi-pe-luna-671610.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83c\udfc6 Congratulations to all participating teams, and especially to our winners!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>We leave this edition with a great sense of accomplishment, incredible memories, and even greater motivation to take Space Engineering Challenge to the next level!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\ude4f <strong>Thank you all for being part of this amazing journey!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\ude80 <strong>See you at SEC 2027!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The SEC 2026 Organizing Team<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">#SEC2026 #SpaceEngineeringChallenge #ACUPT #PolitehnicaTimisoara #Robotics #SpaceExploration #Engineering #Innovation #FutureEngineers<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Faculty of Automation and Computers, Politehnica University Timi\u0219oara, is organizing a new edition of the <strong>Space Engineering Challenge (SEC)<\/strong>, taking place on <strong>6\u20138 November 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The competition is dedicated to high school and university student teams interested in robotics, automation, autonomous systems, and space-inspired engineering challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This year\u2019s edition brings the challenge into a real testing environment: <strong>Rom\u00e2ne\u0219ti Cave, Timi\u0219 County<\/strong>. Under the theme <strong>\u201cFrom point clouds to pathfinding: conquer the cave\u201d<\/strong>, participants will be challenged to design and develop a robotic system capable of completing a mission in a cave environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The task will require teams to combine skills in localization, perception, navigation, mechanical design, embedded systems, communication, and software development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Teams will receive a LiDAR \/ point-cloud map of the environment that can be used for localization and path planning. During the mission, the robots will need to identify, collect, and transport designated objects from the competition area, while dealing with the constraints of a real and technically demanding environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who can participate?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The competition includes two categories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>High School Section<\/strong> \u2013 for teams of high school students from Romania, accompanied by a mentor;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>University Section<\/strong> \u2013 for undergraduate students from universities in Romania or abroad.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Each team consists of <strong>two or three students and one mentor<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The official language of the competition is <strong>English<\/strong>, including technical documentation, proposals, and presentations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why take part in SEC?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Space Engineering Challenge is more than a robotics competition. It is an opportunity to work on a complex engineering problem, test ideas outside the laboratory, collaborate in multidisciplinary teams, and turn theoretical knowledge into a functioning real-world system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Participants will have the chance to explore topics such as robotics, autonomous navigation, embedded systems, software development, electronics, mechanics, and system integration while working under realistic technical constraints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Competition dates: <strong>6\u20138 November 2026<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Location: <strong>Rom\u00e2ne\u0219ti Cave, Timi\u0219 County, Romania<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the official rules, registration information, technical requirements, deadlines, and the latest updates, please <strong>visit the official Space Engineering Challenge website<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/sec.ac.upt.ro\/2026\/\">https:\/\/sec.ac.upt.ro\/2026\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ready to take on the challenge?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SEC is about more than building a robot. It is about testing your ideas, solving problems that do not have obvious answers, and discovering how far a strong team, a good technical solution, and a bit of courage can take you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Build. Test. Explore. Conquer the cave.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Your next engineering challenge starts here.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Space Engineering Challenge 2026 is organized by the Faculty of Automation and Computers (Politehnica University Timi\u0219oara) in collaboration with <strong>industry<\/strong> and <strong>academic partners<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n<p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Space Engineering Challenge 2026 \u2013 Mission Accomplished! \ud83c\udf15\ud83e\udd16 After three incredible days filled with challenges, innovation, excitement, and unforgettable moments, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":8800,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7488","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.3.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Space Engineering Challenge 2026 by AC@UPT - Facultatea de Automatic\u0103 \u0219i Calculatoare - Timi\u0219oara<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ac.upt.ro\/en\/sec\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale:alternate\" content=\"ro_RO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Space Engineering Challenge 2026 by AC@UPT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Space Engineering Challenge 2026 \u2013 Mission Accomplished! 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