Designed to advance Türkiye’s competence in autonomous vehicle technologies and test young minds’ studies in artificial intelligence, sensor technologies, and autonomous control systems against real-world scenarios, the Robotaxi-Passenger Autonomous Vehicle Competition is gearing up for final excitement. Organized within the scope of TEKNOFEST under the execution of Bilişim Vadisi and TÜBİTAK, 50 finalist teams selected from 1,199 applicants will showcase their autonomous driving capabilities at the Kocaeli Bilişim Vadisi Campus from August 23–26, 2026.
23.08.2026
The competition is built around vehicles perceiving their environment without human intervention, interpreting gathered data, making accurate decisions, and executing safe driving maneuvers. On the final course modeling urban transportation scenarios, competing teams are expected to comprehend traffic signs and signals in real time, detect and safely avoid static and dynamic obstacles, perform passenger pick-up and drop-off tasks, obey traffic lights, and execute parking procedures in accordance with rules. All tasks must be completed autonomously without any external intervention.
The Robotaxi-Passenger Autonomous Vehicle Competition drew significant attention again this year with high participation. Open to high school, associate, undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, and open education students as well as graduates studying in Türkiye and abroad, a total of 1,199 teams and 4,646 individuals applied across two categories.
Applications included 698 teams and 2,234 members in the Ready-Made Vehicle category, and 501 teams and 2,412 members in the Original Vehicle category. Following evaluation processes, 22 teams with 243 members from the Ready-Made Vehicle category, and 28 teams with 510 members from the Original Vehicle category advanced to the finals. A total of 50 teams and 753 contestants will compete in the final stage.
Finalists demonstrated their technical competence across multiple stages. Teams' performances are evaluated through a comprehensive process comprising the Technical Qualification Form, Critical Design Report, Vehicle Test Video or Simulation Report, and Final Evaluation. These evaluations aim to showcase not only the teams' vehicle and software development skills, but also their autonomous driving systems' perception, planning, decision-making, and control capabilities.
The Robotaxi-Passenger Autonomous Vehicle Competition is held in two separate categories, allowing teams with different technical approaches to compete. In the Ready-Made Vehicle category, teams utilize a fully equipped electric vehicle platform featuring drive-by-wire functionality provided within the scope of the competition. In this category, teams primarily focus on developing autonomous driving software and decision-making algorithms. Ready-Made Vehicle teams consist of a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 25 members, excluding the advisor.
In the Original Vehicle category, teams participate using donated or pre-manufactured vehicles. Teams are directly responsible for all structural features of the vehicle and its compliance with competition specifications. Consisting of a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 25 members (excluding the advisor), this category evaluates engineering infrastructure and vehicle design alongside autonomous driving software as key competition elements.
At the finals taking place at the Kocaeli Bilişim Vadisi Campus from August 23–26, teams will face tasks modeling real-world urban transportation conditions. Vehicles must navigate correctly at passenger drop-off and pick-up points, follow traffic lights and regulations, detect static and dynamic obstacles on the course, and perform safe avoidance maneuvers.
One of the most critical elements of the finals will be executing all these tasks without any external human intervention. This setup tests the artificial intelligence and autonomous driving systems developed by the teams not just in a laboratory or simulation environment, but within a dynamic, near-real-world setting.
Successful teams in the Robotaxi-Passenger Autonomous Vehicle Competition will be supported with special awards in addition to financial prizes. In the Ready-Made Vehicle category, the first-place team will receive 250,000 TRY, the second-place team 200,000 TRY, and the third-place team 175,000 TRY. In the Original Vehicle category, the first-place prize is set at 300,000 TRY, the second-place prize at 250,000 TRY, and the third-place prize at 200,000 TRY.
Advisors of winning teams will also be awarded separately. The advisor of the first-place team will receive 20,000 TRY, the second-place advisor 15,000 TRY, and the third-place advisor 12,000 TRY. Alongside rank prizes, the Most Original Software Award and Best Team Spirit Award will be presented in both categories, while the Best Vehicle Design Award will be exclusive to the Original Vehicle category. These awards aim to encourage original software development, teamwork, and engineering design alongside technical success.
Winning teams from the finals will receive their awards at TEKNOFEST held in Şanlıurfa from September 30 to October 4, 2026. While enabling youth-developed technologies to be tested in real-world scenarios, the Robotaxi-Passenger Autonomous Vehicle Competition contributes to cultivating the qualified human resource Türkiye requires in autonomous driving, artificial intelligence, sensor technologies, and vehicle control systems. The competition empowers young technology teams to take an active role not only on a competition track, but also in developing future mobility solutions.
At the finals held from August 23–26, 2026, at the Kocaeli Bilişim Vadisi Campus, 50 teams and 753 contestants will showcase the capabilities of autonomous vehicles in urban transportation scenarios.
22.08.2026
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