UTRA Hacks is Canada's emerging 2-day robotics hackathon hosted by the University of Toronto Robotics Association (UTRA) and the Robotics Institute. We aim to inspire creativity, enable collaboration and foster skill development. Participants connect face-to-face, collaborate with global students, and engage with industry leaders and mentors. The event sparks inspiration and opens minds to endless possibilities. Hackers of all experience levels can join workshops, tech talks, and career sessions to learn something new. UTRA Hacks supports participants by providing necessary equipment, so that the sky's the limit!

NOTE: Registering on Devpost does not give you access to the event, you must have been admitted to UTRA Hacks 2025 through our application process in order to attend.

Requirements

What to Build

The Hackathon will consist of an open and closed challenge to be presented on the day of the event.  Specifications and workshops required to develop projects will be revealed during the Hackathon.

What to Submit

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$665 in prizes
Best Use of MongoDB Atlas - M5GO IoT Starter Kit
1 winner

MongoDB Atlas takes the leading modern database and makes it accessible in the cloud! Get started with a $50 credit for students or sign up for the Atlas free forever tier (no credit card required). Along with a suite of services and functionalities, you'll have everything you need to manage all of your data, and you can get a headstart with free resources from MongoDB University! Build a hack using MongoDB Atlas for a chance to win a M5GO IoT Starter Kit for you and each member of your team.

Best AI Project with Databricks Open Source - Assorted Lego Sets
1 winner

Databricks is an open analytics platform that helps you build, deploy, and maintain large scale data & AI solutions! Whether you’re working with large language models using Mosaic AI, storing data with Databricks Data Lakes, or deploying GenAI powered applications using MLflow, Databricks Open Source software has the tools you need to make your hackathon project state of the art.

Build an AI powered project utilizing Databricks Open Source projects like the ones mentioned, or Databricks friendly Open Source projects like LanceDB and Llama Index, for a chance to win some amazing prizes for you and your teammates! Check out the following link to see all qualifying Databricks' Open Source technologies.

Best Use of Terraform - Keychron K8 Wireless Keyboard
1 winner

HashiCorp Terraform is a source available infrastructure as code (IaC) tool that makes building, deploying, and managing your projects even easier! Whether you’re working in the cloud or using local resources, Terraform can make managing and configuring your application simple and organized. From deploying Machine Learning models to spinning up virtual containers for your web applications, Terraform supports a wide array of cloud providers and services, taking the guesswork out of your next hackathon project. Dive into the documentation and discover all the ways Terraform can take the way you hack to the next level!

Terraform’s community edition is free to use with no credit card required! Utilize Terraform in your hackathon project this weekend for a chance to win some awesome Hashicorp prizes for you and each of your teammates!

Best Use of Gen AI - Mechanical Keyboard & Fitbit
1 winner

Generative AI is rapidly changing the landscape of software development. This category challenges you to build novel applications that leverage the power of Generative AI APIs. Think outside the box and integrate cutting-edge AI models to create innovative solutions with real-world impact.

To participate, utilize publicly available Generative AI APIs (like those from OpenAI, Anthropic, Hugging Face, Llama, IBM Watson, or Google Gemini) to develop a unique and functional application. This could include:
AI-powered creative tools: Design an app that allows users to generate unique marketing copy, translate languages in real-time, or create personalized learning experiences.
Intelligent assistants and automation: Build a chatbot that can provide insightful customer support, or a system that automates complex tasks using natural language processing.
Next-generation content creation platforms: Develop a platform that empowers users to generate high-quality images, write different kinds of creative text formats, or compose original music with AI assistance.
This is your chance to get hands on with cutting edge tech, put your skills on display, and of course, win some awesome prizes!

Sauce Labs Hot Sauce Raffle
1 winner

Sauce Labs empowers you to develop, test, and deliver top-tier web and mobile apps quickly and efficiently. Their unified platform makes automated testing and error monitoring easy to do, enabling you to save time building your hackathon project! Let Sauce Labs help resolve any issues with your code so you can get back to building an award winning hack. Make sure your project is hackathon-tested by signing up for a Sauce Labs account!

To spice things up even more, we're running the Sauce Labs Hot Sauce naming raffle and selecting up to 4 individual winners at this event. To qualify come up with a cool hot sauce name and submit it to the Sauce Labs raffle form for a chance to win a cool prize!

Open Challenge
3 winners

See discord for full details!

1st place: philips hue smart light bulb
2nd place: $20 giftcards
3rd place: keep your robot!

Closed Challenge
3 winners

See discord for full details!

1st: Pololu 3pi+ 2040 robot
2nd: $20 giftcard
3rd: keep your robot!

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Quinn Dines

Quinn Dines
Major League Hacking

Vincenzo Polizzi

Vincenzo Polizzi
PhD - UTIAS

Olivier Lamarre

Olivier Lamarre
PhD - UTIAS

Armanpreet Pannu

Armanpreet Pannu
PhD - UofT ECE

Spencer Teetaert

Spencer Teetaert
PhD - ASRL & CRL

Bella Huang

Bella Huang
TA - UofT

Christopher Damaren

Christopher Damaren
Professor - UTIAS

Sunila Akbar

Sunila Akbar
Professor - YU ECE

Harshil Thakkar

Harshil Thakkar
Engineering Manager - A.U.G. Signals Ltd.

Nayma Piya

Nayma Piya
Hardware Engineer - Intero

Utkarsh Chadha

Utkarsh Chadha
TA - UofT

David Li

David Li
TA - UofT

Reza Fattahi

Reza Fattahi
TA - UofT

Anat Usatinsky

Anat Usatinsky
TA - UofT

Kalana Abeywardena

Kalana Abeywardena
TA - UofT

Emily Chen

Emily Chen
TA - UofT

Isabella Ferrara

Isabella Ferrara
TA - UofT

Graeme Aylward

Graeme Aylward
TA - UofT

Roozbeh Alishahian

Roozbeh Alishahian
TA - UofT

Jones Law

Jones Law
TA - UofT

Kate MacQuarrie

Kate MacQuarrie
TA - UofT

Lindsay Stern

Lindsay Stern
TA - UofT

Allison Tolgyesi

Allison Tolgyesi
TA - UofT

Jenny Wei

Jenny Wei
TA - UofT

Joana Dilipkumar

Joana Dilipkumar
TA - UofT

Naayaab Nagree

Naayaab Nagree
TA - UofT

Chukwuma Asuzu

Chukwuma Asuzu
TA - UofT

Grace Shan

Grace Shan
TA - UofT

Virupaksh Agrawal

Virupaksh Agrawal
TA - UofT

Philippe Nadeau

Philippe Nadeau
PhD - UTIAS

Osama Alkhodairy

Osama Alkhodairy
Research Intern - Waabi

Judging Criteria

  • Rubric
    Rubric has been emailed/posted in the discord!

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

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