OST once again hosts RobOlympics
Rapperswil-Jona – The OST – Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences has hosted the RobOlympics competition. The event at which 80 children and adolescents present robots they have built themselves took place for the 21st time.
(CONNECT) The OST – Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences has held the RobOlympics competition at its campus in Rapperswil-Jona in the canton of St.Gallen. This is 21st time the competition has taken place, as was reported in a press release.
A total of 18 teams with around 80 children and adolescents took part in the event. They were able to test robots they built themselves across various disciplines known in advance and compete against each other. In one discipline, mini sumos had to wrestle their opponent out of the ring. Others involved scoring goals with a ball or getting the robot to follow a line along an obstacle course with dead ends and other challenges. Participants only learned details of the tasks on the day of the competition and had to configure their robots appropriately. In a surprise task called RoboDrop, a hand-controlled robotic arm had to pick up an object, place it on a transport robot and bring it to a specific field.
The RobOlympics aim to promote a diverse range of skills among pupils coming from different secondary, cantonal and vocational schools. “Robotics combines various engineering disciplines such as mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and computer science. This makes the area interesting for those taking part and appeals to us for how it nurtures young talent,” commented Andreas Breitenmoser, Organizer of the RobOlympics and Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at OST, in the press release. The aim of the competition is to get young people excited about technology. ce/ww