No two alike
More than 500 students took part in the latest °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Robots challenge. Working from the same instructions and technical specifications, they had worked in teams over the school year to create and program Lego-based robots to perform dynamic tasks inspired by °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ remote handling challenges. On Tuesday 23 May, their efforts were put to the test ...
The °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Robots competition was originally conceived by Agence Iter France, with the participation of engineers from the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Organization and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). It is now supported by the French Ministry of Education.
For the 12th edition, participating teams had to take part in a three-prong challenge—not only demonstrate that their robots could successfully transport objects along pre-defined trajectories, grasp and release them, and respond to program modifications on the spot, but also develop presentation materials to explain the development of their designs, and answer questions in a "general culture" test to show familiarity with the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Project and some cultural knowledge about the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Members.
On the margins of the contest, companies specializing in artificial intelligence, engineering and robotics had set up stands with hands-on activities. The °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Organization was also present with a mockup of the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ machine and a game that turned students into fusion power plant operators in the year 2103.
See some of the fun that was had in this video of the event on the . A podcast featuring interviews with young °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Robots competitors has also just been released on the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Podcast Page (also available in today's °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Newsline).