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Students showcase robot designs at international event

November 22, 2007
Taiwanese students made their nation proud at the 2007 World Robot Olympiad, being awarded 10 top prizes in the annual event held in Taipei Nov. 17 to 18. More than 650 students from 18 countries around the world showed off their innovative robot designs in one of either two categories.

In the regular category, teams were required to assemble their robots and complete programming within an hour, and then take part in two competitions. The open category was a project-based, exhibition-style competition in which teams presented their best robot designs based on a certain theme. This year, the theme was "Civil safety, security and emergency response."

To allow students of all ages to participate, the WRO divides each category into three sections, namely students from elementary school, junior high school and senior high school.

Teams were only allowed to create robots using LEGO plastic bricks and controllers, including light, sound and temperature sensors. WRO rules also stated that robots had to complete tasks without manual assistance, and no coaching of students was allowed during competitions.

Every year, the host nation adds a local flavor to the competition and Taiwan is of no exception. For the junior-high-school and senior-high-school sections, organizers of the WRO 2007 asked competitors to come up with robotic designs that simulate the movement of the train that climbs Alishan, one of Taiwan's highest mountains. The Alishan train climbs the steep slopes in a z-line switchback movement.

In a show of local force, Taiwan's teams in the elementary-school and junior-high-school age groups dominated the regular category, taking all top three prizes, and, in the same category, Taiwan's senior-high-school team came away with second prize. In the open category, Taiwan's teams also performed well by securing third-place medals in every age group.

One great performer was the robot made by Taiwan's Universal No. 1 team. The team's creation took only 10 seconds to climb to the top of a miniature version of Alishan while competing in the "Train of Alishan" contest. Moreover, the same robot beat all other competitors to reach the finishing line in 22 seconds during the "Robo Ambulating Rally" race. Due to such an unstoppable design, the Universal No. 1 team was hailed as the champion of the junior-high-school section.

Kerry Bailey, an information-technology consultant who works for the Abu Dhabi Education Council in the United Arab Emirates, praised such competitions as the WRO in a Nov. 17 report by Taiwan's Central News Agency. "Competitions like this help build a student's thinking skills, which is important for the future development of students who plan on entering engineering or related fields," he said.

Such events also help students to develop their abilities to solve problems and act well within the framework of a team, Bailey said, adding that one of the best things about the WRO is that it exposes students to an innovative environment from a young age.

The World Robot Olympiad was established in 2004 by a committee made up of experts from around the world. Singapore held the first event in 2004, followed by Thailand and China.

Write to Edwin Hsiao at edwinhsiao@mail.gio.gov.tw

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