This year’s World Robot Olympiad (WRO) will feature a new collegiate-level competition to inspire innovation among students around the world. The competition is being organised in partnership with National Instruments (NI).
Since the robotics competition was founded in 2004, it has used NI technology via Lego Mindstorms. The new competition, being piloted at this year’s WRO in Jakarta, Indonesia, from 15 to 17 November, should open a new level of competition to give students advanced programming options, using LabView system design software – as used by professional engineers in many industries.
The theme of the competition is a colony on Mars. Approximately 100 collegiate-level teams have participated in this pilot and teams from 15 countries will advance to the final competition in Jakarta. The competition will become an official part of the global competition in 2014, when it opens to all WRO member countries.
According to Johnson Jan, Chairman of the Board of the WRO: ‘NI shares our belief that the best way to inspire students to pursue careers in science and engineering is to encourage them with fun, hands-on experiences. The new competition engages students using real-world robotics platforms to teach engineering fundamentals and creative problem solving skills.’
The World Robot Olympiad is an event for science, technology and education that brings together young people all over the world. Schools are invited to enter a team of two to three students to create, design and build a robot that solves different tasks.
National Instruments has also announced its results for the third quarter, with revenues of $289 million, $9 million above the midpoint of its guidance range given in July. The company saw a 2 per cent increase year-over-year in the value of total orders received in the period.
