How to Compete in the American-Made E-ROBOT Prize

OverviewCompete

The E-ROBOT Prize is designed to catalyze the development of minimally invasive, low-cost, and holistic building envelope retrofit solutions that make retrofits easier, faster, safer, and more accessible for workers. It offers $4 million in cash prizes for competitors and an additional $1 million in recognition awards and support for the American-Made Network Connectors in the American-Made Network.

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A Prize Competition Structured for Success

Competitors in the E-ROBOT Prize participate in two phases that will fast-track efforts to identify, develop, and validate disruptive solutions to meet building industry needs. Participants along with Network Connectors, will compete to win a portion of $5 million in cash prizes and other support.

The total prize pool for these two contests is $3 million. Winners will receive up to $700,000 in cash prizes and $100,000 in technical support vouchers. These support vouchers can be used at national laboratories and other approved voucher facilities within the American-Made Network to develop, test, and validate technology.

Phase 1 and Phase 2

Each stage lasts about six months and is expected to culminate in spring 2022.

ContestWinnersPrizes
Phase 1Up to 10$200,000 cash prize per winning team
Phase 2Up to 4$500,000 cash prize per winning team
Phase 1 – Concept and Design: In this phase, teams are expected to present an innovative idea that solves a known industry problem for building envelope retrofits. This phase focuses on proving that the solution solves a critical building envelope need, developing a concept and design, and forming a team capable of achieving success. Up to 10 Phase 1 winners will win $200,000 in cash prizes and will then be eligible to compete in Phase 2.
Phase 2 – Build and Validate: In Phase 2, winning competitors from Phase 1 will take their individual components add the other required functionality to create a holistic, and “turnkey,” integrated product offering. In Phase 2, up to four winners will win $500,000 in cash prizes.

Anyone Can Compete

Only Phase 1 Winners are eligible to compete in Phase 2. For those interested in competing in Phase 2 as part of a finalist team, please review the public-facing elements of applications from Phase 1 to see how you can contribute to a holistic solution.

Competitors are entrepreneurial individuals or teams legally residing or based in the United States. Competitors can be individuals of one or multiple organizations, students, university faculty members, small business owners, researchers, or anyone with the desire and drive to transform an idea into an impactful solution.

  1. Identify a critical need in building envelope retrofits using advanced robotics, develop a conceptual design of the solution, and strategize to build a robust team that can provide a holistic solution in Phase 2.
  2. Submit a 90-second to 2-minute video describing your challenge and proposed solution, team, and plan.
  3. Create a cover page.
  4. Answer questions in a short technical narrative and make a summary slide about your project.
    • Need/Challenge:
      What is the critical envelope retrofit need being addressed? Why is that an important problem?
    • Proposed Solution:
      Include a picture and/or graphic that best captures the solution, innovation and/or approach with short description.
    • Partnering/Team:
      Describe your team and why your team has a competitive edge.
  5. Submit design specifications.
  6. Gather letters of commitment and support (optional).
  7. Upload all material via the E-ROBOT Prize HeroX page.

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