The biggest educational robotics festival in Cyprus, ROBOTEX, and the continuous international successes of Cypriot roboticists have placed Cyprus on the international map of educational robotics. The competition will be held again this year in June, while entries are accepted until 29 May 2022.
On the occasion of the competition, Cyprus News Agency spoke to Dr Panikos Masouras, Chairman of the ROBOTEX Cyprus Organising Committee and Secretary of the Board of the Cyprus Informatics Association, which organises the competition.
Mr Masouras said that the aim of the event is to upgrade the field of educational robotics, the introduction of robotics technology in the educational process, the upgrading of the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) disciplines and the promotion of new forms of learning and education.
He also stressed that "with the introduction of ROBOTEX in Cyprus in 2017 and with the continuous successes of Cypriot roboticists both in ROBOTEX International and other international robotics events, we have managed to place Cyprus on the international map of educational robotics".
He also called on both public and private universities to create specialised undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes in robotics in combination with other cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence.
ROBOTEX Cyprus
ROBOTEX Cyprus will celebrate its "5th birthday" this year as the largest educational robotics festival in Cyprus as established since 2017. It is organised along the lines of the international ROBOTEX competition which has been held in Tallinn, Estonia since 2001.
The 5th ROBOTEX Cyprus Robotics Competition will take place from the 24th to the 26th of June 2022 at the Sports Centre of the University of Cyprus. The competition is open to groups of pupils, students and adults and participation is free of charge. The winning teams will be eligible to participate in ROBOTEX International 2022, from which in previous years the Cypriot delegation returned with a number of distinctions.
Organized by the Cyprus Computer Society (CCS Cyprus Computer Society www.ccs.org.cy) which is an independent, non-profit, professional and scientific organization, co-organized by the University of Cyprus, the Youth Organization and the local network of the IET Cyprus.
Aim of the event
Masouras told the Cyprus News Agency that the aims of the event are to attract students to STEAM fields, develop 21st century skills, interdisciplinary analysis and problem solving, develop a spirit of communication, teamwork and cooperation between students/students and teachers/academics and learn basic code principles for solving practical problems.
"Through the event we raise awareness among the society and citizens by defining a specific theme, this year's theme is waste management, whereas in the past it was environment, energy and health," he added.
The competitions being implemented
The interested teams, with the help of a coach/coach - instructor/trainer, are invited to create robots to compete in the 20 different challenges of the event.
Mr. Masouras said that all the competitions are of interest, starting with the robotic constructions of young primary school students on the theme "Waste Management". The Line Following series is enriched by tracks with various obstacles that the robots have to avoid, in the "maze" competition the robots try to find the exit like the mythical Theseus, in the "sumo" competition based on the famous Japanese wrestling the robots try to push each other off the track.
This year, he added, "we are introducing fire-fighting, aimed only at girls, to attract them to the STEAM areas and to raise awareness about this big problem we face in Cyprus especially during the summer season." Other competitions are colour picking for choosing objects of different colours and grades and folkrace which is a rally between several robots at the same time on a special track.
Cyprus on the international map of educational robotics
Answering questions, he said that "the main conclusion is that with the introduction of ROBOTEX in Cyprus in 2017 and with the continuous successes of Cypriot roboticists both in ROBOTEX International and in other international robotics events, we have managed to place Cyprus on the international map of educational robotics".
We note, he added, "that year after year the level of knowledge and skills of the participants is upgrading, this is reflected in the healthy competition that develops among the competing teams which is becoming more intense."
To this end, he congratulated the large number of young instructors who are involved in the field, saying that they are doing an excellent job.
Public education needs to accelerate the pace of integration of robotics at all levels
"We are very proud of the fact that by organizing ROBOTEX Cyprus as an Association we have created an educational robotics market in Cyprus which employs a large number of young university graduates from various disciplines and offers healthy employment opportunities to children of all ages as well as adults and parents," he said. Masouras.
He said that robotics has been introduced in private schools and private tutorials across Cyprus as an interdisciplinary STEAM learning approach, while serious steps are also being taken in public education, both in primary and secondary education and in technical education.
He expressed the view that public education should immediately accelerate the pace of integration of robotics in all levels of education. This of course, he continued, requires not only the allocation of the necessary budget for the purchase and supply of equipment to schools, but also the necessary continuous education and training of teachers in the use of robotic technology and its utilization in the educational process itself, both on a stand-alone and interdisciplinary level.
"We also call on both public and private universities to create specialized undergraduate and graduate programs of study in robotics in combination with other cutting-edge technologies."
"We also call on both public and private universities to create specialized undergraduate and graduate programs of study in robotics For more information call 22460680.
Please note that the event will be open to the public and the final programme will be announced later.
CNA is the communication sponsor of the competition, which is supported by Cyta as strategic partner of CCS, XM as technology partner, Bank of Cyprus as Youth Supporter, EKO as platinum sponsor, Neapolis Paphos University as gold sponsor, other businesses and all private universities.
Source: CNA
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