Students succeed at international competition with autonomous snowplow

In freezing winter temperatures, this thought crosses most people’s minds: “If only I didn’t have to shovel snow myself!” If robots can vacuum homes and mow lawns, why shouldn’t they shovel snow too? The student group ARTUS shared this idea and developed the autonomous snowplow Lynx. However, Lynx represents far more than just a smart snow-clearing robot.

In May 2024, 20 students from the Bachelor's and Master's programs Geodesy, Aerospace Engineering, Technical Cybernetics, Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science founded the group Autonomous Robotics Team University of Stuttgart, or ARTUS for short. "ARTUS welcomes all students who want to get involved in practical work alongside their studies,” says chairman Andreas Gall, who is in his fifth semester studying Geodesy and Geoinformatics at the University of Stuttgart. “We want to put what we’ve learned into practice and unite research and practical applications in the field of autonomous robotics.”

The autonomous snowplow Lynx is roughly the size of a washing machine, extremely robust, and can handle even freezing temperatures and rough terrain. After a year of development and fine-tuning, Lynx faced its ultimate test at the Autonomous Snowplow Competition (ASC) in the United States. Each year, international university teams compete at the Autonomous Snowplow Competition (ASC) held at the Dunwoody College of Technology in Minneapolis, USA. The challenge facing the autonomous robots: Clear a designated stretch of snow as quickly and efficiently as possible.

After the first round, the students from Stuttgart were in second place. In the second round, ARTUS narrowly missed the podium but secured an excellent 4th place – making this the first German team to finish in the top five since the competition began. "We are very pleased with our performance. “It was ARTUS’s first time at the ASC, and we couldn’t be happier with the outcome,” Gall says with pride. “The result shows that our system is already at a high technical level and that we are clearly on the right track.”

In addition to being awarded a cash prize of 1,500.00 USD, ARTUS is also returning to Stuttgart with a second award. The team received the Dr. Nattus Sportsmanship Award in recognition of their teamwork, helpfulness, respectful conduct, and positive attitude throughout the competition.

Lynx scored points with sharp “eyes” and “ears,” as well as strength and stamina. Technically speaking, the students designed the robot as a modular system. This means that independent modules perform specific functions, interact with each other through selected interfaces, and only come to life as a robot when working together. These modules include sensors and cameras for environmental perception and control, as well as an agile, chain-driven chassis and a powerful battery that, with around 5 kWh, provides 290 times more energy than a smartphone battery.

“We deliberately chose a modular approach,” explains Gall. “The advantage is that the modules can be swapped, allowing the robot to be repurposed for different tasks,” explains the geodesy student. For example, the snow shovel could be replaced with other attachments, such as a leaf blower or trimmer, or additional sensors could be added to explore and survey unknown terrain. With this, Lynx can not only clear snow but also assist with research or logistical tasks. “We want to further develop Lynx and are planning to take on another platform,” says Gall. “Our goal is to combine hardware with user-friendly software to create technical solutions that could potentially be applied in a variety of fields.”

ARTUS will also participate in the Autonomous Snowplow Competition in 2027. The team is always looking for new members. Anyone interested in joining can contact ARTUS by email.