Published Wednesday, 06 December, 2006 at 10:30 AM
Minister for State Development, Employment and Industrial Relations
The Honourable John Mickel
ROBOTS RULE ON THE GOLD COAST
The robots are coming to the Gold Coast.
But don’t worry, they’re not about to take over the world, but to compete in the world robot Olympics.
Opening the 8th International Robot Olympiad at The Southport School today, Queensland Minister for State Development John Mickel said the three-day event had drawn over 600 human competitors from 10 countries, including Australia.
“The International Robot Olympiad was established to encourage young people to take an interest in science, technology and engineering and judging by the number of participants, it’s been very successful,” Mr Mickel said.
‘For example, in Korea, over 10,000 students participated in the qualifying competition in August this year, of which 250 were selected to come to Australia.
“In fact, the event is so big in Korea, that they’ve chartered an aeroplane especially for 300 people to come to the Gold Coast and one of Korea’s major television stations, EBS has sent a crew to cover the Olympiad for a one hour program.”
Mr Mickel said China also had a national qualifying process where 120 students had been chosen.
“Last year’s winner from Chindo is now famous throughout China,” he said.
Contestants are divided into three main groups: primary school, secondary, and tertiary students.
They compete in two main categories: game and creativity.
In the game category, competitors pit their robots in a series of competitions, including obstacle races, robo dancing, robot soccer and robo basketball.
In the creativity category, contestants have to build a robot from scratch within a short time frame around the theme of keeping our planet clean and green.
Students are judged on design, construction and presentation.
Organising Chair of the International Robot Olympiad Committee Dr Jun Jo said this was the first time the event had been held in Australia and was quite a coup for Queensland.
Dr Jun Jo, who is also the Director of Griffith University’s Robotics and Games Laboratory, said a number of other international events were running concurrently, including: the 4th International Symposium on Robotics Education, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Inc Australian Robotics Education Program, and The Robot Developers’ Symposium, sponsored by Australia-Korea Foundation.
“These have drawn some of the world’s leading robot researchers and robotic companies. And it’s quite a feather in the cap for Queensland to host such a major event,” Dr Jun Jo said.
6 December 2006
Media contact: Chris Brown 3224 7349 or Elouise Campion 3224 6784.
Dr Jun Jo’s contact details: 5552 8266, mobile – 0404 062 022
International Robot Olympiad web address: www.iroc.org/index.html.
But don’t worry, they’re not about to take over the world, but to compete in the world robot Olympics.
Opening the 8th International Robot Olympiad at The Southport School today, Queensland Minister for State Development John Mickel said the three-day event had drawn over 600 human competitors from 10 countries, including Australia.
“The International Robot Olympiad was established to encourage young people to take an interest in science, technology and engineering and judging by the number of participants, it’s been very successful,” Mr Mickel said.
‘For example, in Korea, over 10,000 students participated in the qualifying competition in August this year, of which 250 were selected to come to Australia.
“In fact, the event is so big in Korea, that they’ve chartered an aeroplane especially for 300 people to come to the Gold Coast and one of Korea’s major television stations, EBS has sent a crew to cover the Olympiad for a one hour program.”
Mr Mickel said China also had a national qualifying process where 120 students had been chosen.
“Last year’s winner from Chindo is now famous throughout China,” he said.
Contestants are divided into three main groups: primary school, secondary, and tertiary students.
They compete in two main categories: game and creativity.
In the game category, competitors pit their robots in a series of competitions, including obstacle races, robo dancing, robot soccer and robo basketball.
In the creativity category, contestants have to build a robot from scratch within a short time frame around the theme of keeping our planet clean and green.
Students are judged on design, construction and presentation.
Organising Chair of the International Robot Olympiad Committee Dr Jun Jo said this was the first time the event had been held in Australia and was quite a coup for Queensland.
Dr Jun Jo, who is also the Director of Griffith University’s Robotics and Games Laboratory, said a number of other international events were running concurrently, including: the 4th International Symposium on Robotics Education, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Inc Australian Robotics Education Program, and The Robot Developers’ Symposium, sponsored by Australia-Korea Foundation.
“These have drawn some of the world’s leading robot researchers and robotic companies. And it’s quite a feather in the cap for Queensland to host such a major event,” Dr Jun Jo said.
6 December 2006
Media contact: Chris Brown 3224 7349 or Elouise Campion 3224 6784.
Dr Jun Jo’s contact details: 5552 8266, mobile – 0404 062 022
International Robot Olympiad web address: www.iroc.org/index.html.