Presenting HAWK at Valencia Digital Summit 2026

CHIRP presented HAWK at Valencia Digital Summit 2026, on the Universitat Politècnica de València stand. HAWK is a radar perception system that builds 3D occupancy maps for robot navigation, from radar alone.

Presentation video.

01Valencia Digital Summit

Valencia Digital Summit is the annual technology and entrepreneurship summit organised by Startup Valencia. Its ninth edition, under the theme “Genesis. Origin of What’s Next”, took place on 21 and 22 October at the City of Arts and Sciences. The programme centred on artificial intelligence, health and mobility, and on bringing startups, companies and investors together.

12,000Attendees

120Countries

3,000Startups

800+International investors

Figures reported by the Universitat Politècnica de València.

Visitors on the exhibition floor of Valencia Digital Summit 2026, next to the HAWK rover and a stack of UPV, iTEAM and CHIRP boxes — The exhibition floor on the second day.

02At the UPV stand

The Universitat Politècnica de València stand, run by UPV Innovation, was a meeting point for companies, investors and visitors. HAWK was shown there with the university’s iTEAM institute, alongside research in air navigation, nanophotonics, health technology and neuromarketing. Nearly 1,000 people visited the stand over the two days.

The HAWK display on the Universitat Politècnica de València stand, with the rover in front of it and a CHIRP team member beside it — HAWK on the UPV stand.

03What was shown live

The demonstration ran live, in real time. The screen showed two views side by side: the scene ahead of the vehicle, and the 3D occupancy map built from the radar returns. AI turns those returns into a detailed, navigable map, delivered in ROS 2, the standard software framework for robots.

People in the scene are detected and marked in colour in both views. Because radar passes through materials that block light, HAWK also detects people behind a wall.

Visitors in front of the HAWK screen, one of them pointing at the radar point of view — Visitors at the HAWK screen.

A CHIRP team member driving the HAWK rover with a remote controller on the stand — The rover running live, and the CHIRP team.

Three members of the CHIRP team standing behind the HAWK rover, in front of the HAWK display — The rover running live, and the CHIRP team.

04When visibility is lost

Smoke, fog, dust and darkness take away what cameras rely on, while radar keeps measuring. HAWK is suited to defence, security and emergency-response platforms that need to keep operating when visibility is lost. Configurations and specifications are on the HAWK product page.