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ADEC Hosts ‘World Robot Olympiad – UAE 2010’
Published Sep 30, 2010
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The Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) hosted the 5th World Robot Olympiad - UAE held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), marking the third time the Council has hosted the competition. A total of 390 students from various school levels comprising 130 teams of three members each competed to gain recognition for robotics designing and programming.
H.E. Dr. Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili, Director General of ADEC, said: “Competitions such as the World Robot Olympiad UAE provide students with opportunities to learn and demonstrate new skills and knowledge. They allow our future engineers, mathematicians, scientists, technologists and technicians to grow in ability and master their craft.”
Dr. Al Khaili pointed out that preparing students for future challenges is a central aspect of education: “Encouraging students to be technologically competent, innovative, and creative, problem solvers and collaborative workers will not only help them in their future careers, but will also assist in the transformation to a knowledge-based economy that supports a thriving high-tech industry,” he added.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Al Khaili said “In today’s world, robots are being used in many fields to perform tasks Man is unable to do. These fields include industry, agriculture, medicine, exploration, rescue, etc.”.
“ADEC aims to improve student performance by developing communication, critical thinking and problem solving skills while continuing to preserve the cultural and national identity of Abu Dhabi students. The New School Model launched by ADEC at the beginning of the current school year will help students become positive, independent and well-educated citizens” he added.
The Director General called on the teaching and administrative staff to help develop student skills by adopting modern and advanced teaching methods rather than focusing onthe traditional ones.
Dr. Al Khaili praised the Abu Dhabi team who did well in the World Robot Olympiad in Korea. “Most of the team members are students from Al Sela’a in the Western Region. This reflects ADEC’s commitment to improve performance across all Abu Dhabi Schools and shows that students of Al Sela’a are as important to ADEC as students of Abu Dhabi city,” he said.
Dr. Rafic Makki, ADEC’s Director of Strategic Planning, said: “Organizing this event advances the development of robotics technology in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. This complements ADEC’s 10-Year Strategic Plan for improving student skills in several areas including ICT and Robotics.”
Dr. Makki pointed out that a comprehensive plan for training teachers and students at all Abu Dhabi Schools will be implemented from December 2010 to February 2011. “ADEC will apply the “train the trainers” concept where a group of teachers will be trained first and then later on train their peers in order for them all to be able to train students. Robots have already been distributed to schools for training purposes to make learning an interesting experience for students and teachers alike,” he added.
John Nammour, Project Director of ADEC’s Strategic Planning Division, said that the first regional Robotics Olympiad will be hosted by ADEC in April 2010. ADEC will be supporting the Arab teams participating in the event.
“ADEC will also organize the World Robot Olympiad in April 2011. Around 2,000 to 3,000 students from all over the world are expected to participate in this global event which will highlight the Council’s efforts to promote robotics technology,” said Nammour.
C1, C2 and C3 school students participated in the Regular and Open categories of yesterday’s event. Schools were encouraged to field as many teams as they could provided they were registered with ADEC. Participants designed their robots based on the themes ‘Robot Promote Tourism’ and ‘Dynamic Robots Promote the National or Cultural Heritage of Your Country.’
A unique component of the UAE version of the Olympiad was the ‘WRO Football Gen II’ robotic soccer match based on the Australian “RoboCup Junior Competition” which will debut in the WRO finals taking place in the Philippines.
WRO UAE entries were designed using the LEGO Mindstorms RCX or NXT robotics system. In the competition’s Open Category, robots were allowed to be preassembled and programmed using commercial software. However, teams participating under the Regular Category were required to design and program their robots onsite in 150 minutes. Judging criteria in the Open Category competition included Most Creative Design (40 points), Best Technical Design (20 points), and Best Presentation (20 points). A deduction of 30 points was given for failure to comply with entry requirements.
The World Robot Olympiad , a global robotics competition for young people, was first held in Singapore in 2004. This global event attracts over 1,000 participants from more than 35 countries each year. ADEC’s support of this prominent technology event comes in line with its vision for developing world-class learners who are qualified to meet global challenges while strongly maintaining their national culture and heritage. A forum will be organized by ADEC WRO Team in October to discuss preparations for hosting the World Robot Olympiad.
School leaders and principals thanked ADEC for organizing the WRO UAE, explaining that the event provided students with a suitable platform for showcasing their technical skills and an taking part in an excellent learning experience that develops their capabilities and skills.
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