Viam to Host NYC Robotics Hackathon Exploring Physical AI on Intel-Based Edge AI Systems

Developers will work with robotics hardware, Intel's inference runtime OpenVINO, and Viam software during a two-day hands-on event

NEW YORK, Nov. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Viam, the leading harness for physical AI and robotics, will host "Robot Hackathon: Edge of Intelligence" on November 13–14 at its New York City robotics lab. The hands-on event will give participating developers an opportunity to experiment with computer vision, robot manipulation and local AI inference using robotics hardware, Viam software and Intel's inference runtime OpenVINO.

Participants will work with Intel-based computing systems equipped with Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors. The development environment will include Viam and OpenVINO modules with robotic arms, grippers and depth cameras available for hands-on exercises.

The hackathon is organized around three proposed technical challenges: an imitation-learning robot-policy exercise using approaches such as ACT or SmolVLA; an exploration of vision-language-action models for instruction-driven robot behavior, including a limited pi0.5 track; and computer-vision-based defect detection and robotic sorting using OpenVINO. Developers will have opportunities to build and demonstrate working prototypes rather than only observe technology demonstrations. Specific model and acceleration configurations will depend on technical readiness.

Technical personnel from Viam and Intel will be on-site to answer questions and mentor participants in real-time. The event is designed to give robotics, machine learning and software developers hands-on exposure to model workflows, inference at the edge and robot-side integration.

"Hands-on experience helps developers understand what it takes to move from an AI model to an application interacting with the physical world," said Shannon Bradshaw, SVP of Product and Education at Viam. "This event is an opportunity to experiment with robotics systems, learn from technical mentors and share what works."

The event is part of Viam's ongoing developer education programming, Viam Education, which includes online learning and in-person technical activities. Viam has reached thousands of developers through its online courses and hackathons with partners in New York and in the San Francisco Bay Area. More information about the hackathon and registration is available at https://luma.com/ufudokxg.

About Viam
Viam is the harness for physical AI: agentic infrastructure to develop, deploy, and operate robotics applications safely. With Viam, developers can build robotics applications with any agent, any model, and any hardware, and take them from a single robot to fleets at scale. Viam works with teams across manufacturing, marine, climate, logistics, entertainment, and more. Founded in 2020 by MongoDB co-founder and former CTO Eliot Horowitz, Viam is headquartered in New York City, where it operates its robotics lab. viam.com

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SOURCE Viam, Inc.