SWARM, The World’s Largest Swarm Robotics Hackathon
One weekend. One hundred students. Over 500 robots.
October 3-5, 2025, Builders Club, Downtown Kitchener
Hosted by GRAM and UW Robotics. This event is supported by Starship Ventures, Garage Capital, Northside Ventures, Builders Club, VerLab (UFMG, Brazil), and Designing Emergence Lab (Harvard University).
More sponsors to be announced. To learn why you should sponsor and how, contact us here.
Our judge panel includes Ulys Sorok (Founder of GRAM), Damion Shelton (Founder of Agility Robotics), Dr. Justin Werfel (Leading Harvard Researcher on Swarm Robotics), Dr. Paulo Rezeck (Leading Swarm Robotics Inventor), and Micheal Awah (Former Harvard Researcher and GRAM Employee).
What is SWARM?
The first large-scale swarm robotics hackathon in Canada. Over one weekend, teams of 10 will assemble and program 50+ HeRo robots to create emergent, collective behavior.
Why now? Multi-agent robotics is moving from research to industry. Warehouse automation, agricultural monitoring, search and rescue, and adaptive manufacturing all require collective intelligence.
SWARM is where the talent pipeline begins, for a direction which will prove immense efficiency gains for the industry.
The Challenges
Teams will compete across three prize categories:
🦋 Best Biomimicry : Most natural, nature-inspired behavior
🏭 Best Industrial : Most viable commercial use case
🎨 Most Creative : Most unexpected or artistic demonstration
Winners Receive
Cash prizes (amounts TBA) and robots
Fast-track interviews with GRAM and sponsor companies
Access to GRAM's multi-agent robotics research network
What You Get
✅ All hardware provided – 500 HeRo 2.0 robots, sensors, charging stations
✅ Expert mentorship – Engineers from GRAM and sponsor companies on-site
✅ Full catering – Meals, snacks, and beverages all weekend
✅ Direct recruiter access – Companies are here to hire
JOIN OUR DISCORD: discord.gg/9PGh7q8Pm4
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