WASHINGTON — A high school student from Texas has won a $100,000 scholarship for developing a computer algorithm that helps robots navigate around obstacles, an algorithm that could be used in applications like driverless cars.

The Siemens Foundation announced the winners of its annual science competition for high school students during a ceremony in Washington on Tuesday. Top individual honors went to 17-year-old Kensen Shi of College Station, Texas. He combined two previous algorithms into a new, more efficient one that helps robots find a safe path around obstacles.