PhyRC
PhyRC 2027

PhyRC 2027 Challenge

The PhyRC 2027 Challenge is jointly organized by the EmPRISE Lab at Cornell University and the Robust Intelligence & Robotics (RIRO) Lab at KAIST. The competition facilitates innovation in physical robot caregiving through one track, Mobile Manipulation for Robot-assisted Dressing, evaluated in two phases: Phase 1: Simulation and Phase 2: Real Robot. Teams may use a mobile manipulator or a bimanual mobile-manipulation setup with two Stretch 4 robots. We would like to thank Hello Robot for generously sponsoring a Stretch 4 robot for the winning team.

PhyRC 2027 · Registration open

Mobile manipulation for robot-assisted dressing.

Dress a seated manikin with a closed-topology T-shirt using a mobile manipulator—or two Stretch 4 robots in a bimanual setup.

Simulation
Oct 15 – Dec 15, 2026
Real robot prep + evaluation
Jan – May 2027
Grand prize
Hello Robot Stretch 4
Register for PhyRC 2027 Explore task details
Simulation demonstration
PhyRC Challenge, EmPRISE Lab, Cornell Bowers CIS and Cornell Computer Science
Co-organized withRIRO LabKAIST
Phase 01SimulationOct–Dec 2026
Phase 02Real robotPrep + evaluation · Jan–May 2027
Grand prizeStretch 4Sponsored by Hello Robot

About Physical Robot Caregiving

A report from 2021 states that over 1 billion people around the world require assistance to carry out daily tasks, and that this number will significantly increase with the aging population. Caregiving robots have the potential to reduce caregivers' workload and increase care recipients' independence. The EmPRISE Lab is hosting the PhyRC (pronounced as fai-R-C) Challenge, which stands for Physical Robot Caregiving Challenge. With the mission of enabling robots to improve the quality of life of people with mobility limitations by assisting them with activities of daily living (ADLs), we provide a realistic setup for the robot-assisted dressing task, an important ADL, with the hope to explore solutions to interesting rigid and deformable object manipulation and physical human-robot interaction problems in physical caregiving settings.

Competition Phases

Simulation Phase (Phase 1) (Oct 15 - Dec 15, 2026)

We will use NVIDIA Isaac Sim as a simulation platform for this phase. Teams are required to complete the robot-assisted dressing task in the simulation environment. We will provide the simulation environments including the human avatars, robots, and environmental objects.

Real Robot Prep + Evaluation (Phase 2) (Jan 2027 - May 2027; details TBD)

The real-robot phase is planned for January through May 2027 and is run with the winning teams from Phase 1, who are announced at the end of December 2026. Its task details and evaluation protocol are TBD.

🥇 Prize 🥇: The winner of the Challenge wins a Hello Robot Stretch 4 robot, sponsored by Hello Robot.

Task Details

Robot-assisted Dressing

Assistive dressing is an ADL task during which the caregiver helps the care recipient put on garments. The task uses a closed-topology T-shirt. Teams may use a mobile manipulator or a bimanual mobile-manipulation setup with two Stretch 4 robots.

Phase 1 (simulation) participation guide

A demo of the Phase 1 simulation task:

Teams will be scored using the following rubric:

  • Pick up the closed-topology T-shirt (5 pts): This task will be considered successful if the T-shirt stays in the robot's hand for 3 seconds when the robot’s hand is lifting it in the air.
  • Put one wrist in one sleeve (5 pts): This task will be considered successful if at least one of the manikin’s hands is contained within one of the T-shirt sleeves.
  • Pull the T-shirt to the other side (5 pts): This task will be considered successful if any part of the T-shirt goes beyond the shoulder joint of the manikin, and the T-shirt stays between the back of the chair and the manikin.
  • Dress the other sleeve (5 pts): This task will be considered successful if the manikin’s hand is in the other sleeve of the T-shirt.
  • Overall dressing (30 pts): (n%)*10+(m%)*20 (n = (length covered by the cloth)/(entire arm length of the first arm), m = same metric for the second arm).

We will also account for the efficiency by dividing the score by the time taken for the entire task. We will randomize the positions of the objects and the human configuration in the environment, and evaluate the proposed solution multiple times with randomized initial states.

Tentative Schedule

The schedule is subject to change and will be updated in a timely manner. Join the mailing list using the registration form to get direct notification.

  • Registration Opens: Aug 17, 2026
  • Registration Deadline: Oct 15, 2026 (11:59pm AOE)
  • Phase 1: Oct 15 - Dec 15, 2026 (2 months)
  • Winners of Phase 1 Announced: End of December 2026
  • Final Phase 2 Roster Due: Jan 15, 2027
  • Phase 2: Real Robot Prep + Evaluation with the Phase 1 winners, Jan 2027 - May 2027 (details TBD)

PhyRC 2027 Team

Contact

For questions about the 2027 challenge, email the organizing team at phyrc.challenge@gmail.com. We monitor this address for all challenge correspondence, so please use it rather than contacting organizers individually.

Sponsors

We would like to thank Hello Robot for generously sponsoring a Stretch 4 robot for the winning team. Hello Robot

FAQs

Registration and participation

  • How do we register, and who should register?
    • Register through the registration form. One response per team is enough. We use the email address you submit for all challenge announcements, so please make sure it is one your team checks. This form is the only way to register, and Oct 15, 2026 (11:59pm AOE) is the only registration deadline.
  • Do we need a physical robot to take part in Phase 1?
    • No. Phase 1 runs entirely in simulation. We provide the simulation environments, including the human avatars, robots, and environmental objects, so a team with no robot hardware can compete in Phase 1.
  • Can we take part in Phase 1 without committing to Phase 2?
    • Yes. Phase 1 is simulation-only, and Phase 2 is run with the teams that win Phase 1, so entering Phase 1 does not commit you to travelling. Winners are announced at the end of December 2026, and if you are selected you can decide then, once the venue and logistics are confirmed.
  • What robot setup may we use?
    • A mobile manipulator, or a bimanual mobile-manipulation setup with two Stretch 4 robots.
  • How large can a team be?
    • There are no limits on team size. You are welcome to enter on your own or with a group.
  • Can we change our team members after registering?
    • Yes. You may add or replace members during Phase 1, as long as the team leader stays the same. Please have the team leader email the updated member list to phyrc.challenge@gmail.com.
  • Does the team we register have to stay the same through both phases?
    • No. What carries through both phases is the team itself, meaning the team name and the team leader; the member list can change as described above. Teams that advance to Phase 2 can update the list again, but please send us your final roster by January 15, 2027 so we can plan on-site logistics. Everyone attending the in-person real-robot evaluation must be on that roster.
  • Do you evaluate our CVs or our team's background?
    • No. We do not ask for CVs or member profiles. Evaluation is based solely on your submitted solutions, scored against the rubric in Task Details. Teams that advance to Phase 2 are asked only for practical details, such as attendee names and affiliations, for logistics and acknowledgment; these are not part of the evaluation.

Phase 1 (simulation)

  • Which simulator is used for Phase 1?
    • NVIDIA Isaac Sim 6.0.1, in a Docker image built from NVIDIA's nvcr.io/nvidia/isaac-sim:6.0.1 base image.
  • What will registered teams receive, and when?
    • When Phase 1 opens on Oct 15, 2026, registered teams receive the challenge repository: the simulation environment, the Stretch 4 robot assets, the policy interface, teleop tools, an example demonstration, and step-by-step guides for replicating the environment. We have tested the setup end to end.
  • What do we need in order to develop locally?
    • Linux x86-64 and an NVIDIA RTX GPU with at least 12 GB of memory. The full simulation peaks at about 10 GB, and we have run complete evaluations on a 12 GB card. Note that this 12 GB is the minimum for running the simulation on your own machine, and is a different number from the 12 GB cap on your submitted policy at evaluation time, described below.
  • Which platform will we submit our solutions to?
    • Codabench. We have moved the challenge from EvalAI to Codabench, so there is no PhyRC 2027 challenge on EvalAI. The Codabench challenge is not live yet; we will email registered teams the link together with the submission instructions. Submission rounds, runtime limits, and the list of available libraries will be set out in those instructions.
  • How is Phase 1 scored?
    • Against the rubric in Task Details, with the score divided by the time taken for the task to account for efficiency. We randomize object positions and the human configuration, and evaluate each submission multiple times from randomized initial states.
  • Are third party libraries allowed?
    • Yes, third-party libraries are allowed. Ensure your Docker setup is configured correctly so the environment runs smoothly on the evaluation platform.
  • Does the evaluation platform have a GPU, and is there a memory limit on what we submit?
    • Yes, and yes. Our evaluation GPUs have at least 24 GB of memory, but that budget is split and only part of it is yours: the simulator takes about 10 GB, and your submitted policy is capped at 12 GB of GPU memory. Treat 12 GB as a hard limit when you design, train, and package your solution — everything your submission needs on the GPU at evaluation time, including model weights and inference-time memory, must fit inside that 12 GB. The simulator's share is not available to your policy, so please do not size your models against the full 24 GB. A submission that exceeds the 12 GB cap cannot be considered.
  • If there is a discrepancy between the score that I get locally and the score reported by the evaluation platform, does that mean there is a bug in the competition code?
    • Differences can arise from several factors. We use a set of seeded randomizations for the tasks that are not visible to participants. Make your policy as robust as possible. Additionally, simulation speeds on local computers may differ from the evaluation platform, causing slight score variations. Only your highest score is considered; how many submissions you are allowed will be set out in the Codabench submission instructions.

Phase 2 (real robot)

  • Will teams qualifying for Phase 2 have to travel to the competition venue?
    • Yes. Phase 2 is a real-world competition rather than a simulated one, so teams need to attend in person. The venue is still to be confirmed, but we expect it to be in Seoul, South Korea, alongside ICRA 2027.
  • Is the hardware provided at the venue, or do we bring our own?
    • We provide two Stretch 4 robots and the relevant environment setup at the venue, and teams should bring their own computers or laptops. Participants are also welcome to bring their own robots, and we recommend doing so: competing on hardware your team already knows is usually easier than adapting to the Stretch 4 robots we provide on site.
  • How do we deploy our solution in Phase 2? Is the provided hardware connected to the simulation environment?
    • There is no simulation in Phase 2. You run your solution on real robots to dress a real manikin. Treat your Phase 1 policy as a starting point that you will need to adapt for real hardware and real garments.
  • How many teams advance to Phase 2?
    • That has not been determined yet. The Phase 2 logistics are still being finalized.
  • When will the full Phase 2 task details and rubric be published?
    • The Phase 2 task details and evaluation protocol are still being finalized. We will announce them on this page and to everyone on the registration mailing list.

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