JEDDAH: The second contest for robot science (Robo 30) will start tomorrow in Jeddah with 24 teams of highschool students, representing 18 regions and provinces from around the Kingdom, participating.
Anas Abu Dawood, head of the Students Activities Department at the Directorate of Education, said the contest aims to discover and develop creativity among students. “It is a scientific competitive group contest in the field of roboscience and is officially accredited by the Ministry of Education,” he said.
The contest, which is to be held in Dar Al-Zikr School, is aimed at students in the public education sector. Organizers plan on making it an annual event as part of the official school curriculum. “Winners of the contest would be nominated for regional and international participations,” he said.
Imad Hamad, supervisor of the contest, said the event aims to spread the robot culture among students and teachers. “It also aims to unleash scientific creativity and research methods among students to help them develop their thinking abilities,” he said.
The contest includes designing a robot that can follow a marked path using basic sensors, a robot that can sumo wrestle, and robots that can extinguish fires.
A special meeting would be held after the contest to discuss the outcome of the contest and to choose the best performing robot from participating teams.
Abdullah Al-Syood, general supervisor of Jeddah Science Innovation Center, said the center is one of a few in the Arab world that focuses on spreading the robot culture by preparing and training teachers and students on the technology through workshops, courses and contests.
He said the world is facing a rapid development in robot technology, which involves Artificial Intelligence (AI), computer science and mechanical engineering. Robots are expected to be one of the necessities of daily life in the near future, he added.
Scientific and economic research reveals that robot manufacturing has become a promising international industry involving investments worth billions of dollars, he said, adding that robot development has become a standard to measure a country’s industrial strength.
The contest, hosted by the General Directorate of Education in Jeddah, is being organized by the Jeddah Science Innovation Center.
