The Njord Challenge
A student competition for autonomous boats, held every August in Trondheim. Teams from several countries bring boats they have built and let them sail on their own.
What Njord is.
Njord: The Autonomous Ship Challenge is run by Njord NTNU, a student organisation started in Trondheim in 2019. Every August student teams come to Nyhavna in Trondheim.
Each team builds and runs its own autonomous boat. During the week the boats solve tasks on the water with no one steering. In 2025 eleven teams from eight countries took part, and Navier USN from Norway won.
The four tasks.
The boats sail a course in the harbour and get one task at a time. The team is not allowed to steer.
- Task 01
Manoeuvring
The boat has to steer through a marked course on the water and show that it can control its own movement.
- Task 02
Path finding
The boat has to read the sea markers and find its own way through the course, without help from the team.
- Task 03
Collision avoidance
Another vessel crosses the path. The boat has to see it in time and go around it safely.
- Task 04
Docking
The last task is to find the right spot at the dock and park the boat there on its own.
Try the harbour yourself.
At Njord the team is not allowed to steer. Here you are. Drive Argus around our 3D harbour and see what it takes to find your way on the water.
What is out on the course.
The course has the same kind of marks a boat meets at sea, and the boat has to read them.
Buoys
Floating markers that show where the course goes and where the boat must not sail.
Cardinal marks
Sea marks that tell you which side is safe to pass, just like in real shipping.
AR tags
Printed markers the boat reads with its camera to find the right dock or gate.
The Otter
A small vessel from the organisers that moves across the course in the collision task.
How the teams are judged.
The jury also gives points for the report, the presentation and the inspection.
The four tasks
Most points come from what the boat actually does on the water during the week.
Technical report
The team writes about the design and the choices behind the boat.
Team presentation
Every team presents their work for the jury and the other teams.
Technical inspection
The boat is checked against the rules for size, safety and power before it may sail.
Data and interface
Teams show the data and the interface they use to follow the boat.
Special awards
There are also prizes for team spirit, sportsmanship and best presentation.
Marinor at Njord.
Marinor NTNU is on the team list for the Njord Challenge 2026. We built Argus for these four tasks: find the way, see what is around it, avoid other boats and dock.
Follow Njord online.
Rules, teams, results and news are on Njord's own website.
The official website of Njord: The Autonomous Ship Challenge.
Read more about this year's competition on Njord's own page.
All the teams that signed up for 2026, Marinor included.
The score list from the 2026 challenge, published by Njord (PDF).
Want to know more about Njord?
The rules, the schedule and the team list are on Njord's website. You can also read how we built our boat.