Press conference with members of the “Games of Robots” Organizing Group as a part of the Yakutia International Science Games, which will take part from July 8 to 15 in Yakutsk, was held on July 3 at the “Sakhamedia” republican media center. The organizers of the “Games of Robots” competition – Vasily V. Maksimov, director of the NEFU Junior Computer Academy, Sergey D. Lytkin, head of the NEFU Electronic Learning Center, and Tatyana G. Protodyakonova, teacher of the Republican Lyceum – spoke at the conference.
According to Vasily Maksimov, 22 teams have been declared to the competition: one team from Kazakhstan and all the rest are from the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Number of participants in each team is 2. The Competition Jury Panel consists of 8 experts: two of them, Sung-Won Sno and Heemok Kim, are from the Republic of Korea representing the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and one is from Japan, Tatsumasa Kitakhara, representative director of the Association for Global Scientific Education from Kyoto.
The Organizing Group explained the absence of participants from other foreign countries due their unavailability. For instance, students from Korea couldn’t come as they still have exams because of different study schedule. Another important factor is that the Republic invites representatives from the best schools of the world, so they participate in all qualifying events and then choose the winner among them. It turns out that not all schools have all developed areas.
The competition will be held for 3 days from July 12 to 14 in three categories: “Ring Racing”, “Cargo Sport” and “Sumo”. Regulations of the first two categories were developed by the NEFU Junior Computer Academy.
Racing cars became the basis for the “Ring Racing” competition. A robot or a smart machine designed by participants must drive a few laps around two cylinders. Despite the apparent simplicity, you can win the game only if you’re friends with maths and physics. The “Cargo Port” competition is designed for children to sort out, load, unload, create manipulators and program complex, time-consuming tasks. In other words, the competition is like real processes that take place on cargo terminals. Wooden models of cargo ships and colored warehouses in the form of cubes are used to improve appearance of the Games in order to make the competition spectacular and beautiful. The “Sumo” competition is classic — it’s a rule that has been used for many years all over the world, and it’s very entertaining and exciting. Two robots must push the opponent out of the ring in the game.
According to the organizers, the level of development of robotics and artificial intelligence in Yakutia is above average. This is a merit of children from our Republic, because they regularly take part in various national robotics competitions and win prizes. Students of the Republican Lyceum Boarding School, the Berdigestyakh School named after Semen Danilov, the Churapchy Gymnasium, the Amga Lyceum, the Oktemsky Scientific and Educational Center and others are among them. But there are also problems related to finances behind the success of our children: it is a necessity to travel outside of the republic to cities such as Moscow, Kazan and Saint Petersburg. It all requires certain efforts and costs, which sometimes are not enough.
Sergey Lytkin: “First, a team needs motivated children to succeed. If they are not, then it is very difficult to create something interesting. Secondly, we need an industrious leader who constantly learns something, because children overtake their mentors very quickly, and competitions become more intense every year. For example, you learned something, and all this is already known and applied in a year. And, thirdly, appropriate equipment is necessary. A good result can’t be shown without advanced technology.”
It will be recalled that the «Games of Robots» competition will be held from July 12 to 14 at the NEFU Natural Sciences Building at 48 Kulakovskiy Street. Visitors can enjoy the Games free of charge on July 12 and 13 after lunch and on July 14 in the morning.
Lubov Maksimova