4 min.
The 8th edition of MiniRobot 2013, the Sicilian Robotics Competition for high school students. Automation and electronics, creativity, teamwork: competences and new opportunities for the future of students. The official inauguration will be held on Friday May 31st at 9:30 am at the Cittadella Universitaria in Catania (viale A. Doria 6) with robotics experts and the competitions for over 300 students.
According to ISTAT, 23.9% of young Italians neither study, nor work. They are NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training). Italy has the highest percentage in Europe. In Sicily, schools and universities answer with the 8th edition of MiniRobot2013, promoted by DIEEI – The Department of Electric, Electronic and Computer Engineering of the University of Catania and the Collegio Universitario Arces. Collaborators include the Fondazione Mondo Digitale that has been promoting educational robotics throughout Italy for many years and Radio Zammù, the event media partner.
This year’s edition is entitled L’arredatore (interior designer). 25 teams of students from 12 Sicilian schools will participate in the mission entrusted to their small Lego robots: collect furniture and arrange it in rooms. Miniature interior designers that move about in an area the size of a ping pong board. Besides the Lego bricks, the Lego Mindstorms assembly kit contains a set of sensors, motors and a CPU that can be programmed to make the robot move and carry out operations. The teams have been preparing for the event throughout the school year with the help of a teacher.
The event will be held on Friday May 31st (9:30 am) at the Cittadella Universitaria in Catania (viale A. Doria 6). The inaugural conference will be held in lecture hall D02. Prof. Vincenzo Catania (Department of Electric, Electronic and Computer Engineering of the University of Catania) will welcome participants and turn the floor to Dott. Fabrizio Russo, Operative Director of ARCES, Alfonso Molina, Professor of Technology Strategy at the University of Edinburgh and Scientific Director of the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, Prof. Romana Romano school administrator at ITIS Archimede in Catania and Marco Branciforte from STMicroelectronics. The Regional Economic Councillor for the Region Sicilia has also been invited to the event.
The initial competition phase will last throughout the morning, while the final rounds will be held after lunch; the finals will be held at 6 pm and followed by the awards ceremony. Presentations of the robotics activities held at the University of Catania will be held throughout the day.
Robotics competitions are now common worldwide. They allow groups of students, researchers and hobbyists to challenge each other and provide audiences with an interesting window on the potential of robotics. In fact, the multi-disciplinary nature of Robotics allows students to learn whilst having fun about concepts related to mathematics, physics, computer science, electronics and automation and, at the same time, understand how to develop a “system” of interconnected and interacting parts. Constructing robots allows students to thrive on the spirit of competition and work at something in a limited amount of time, organizing into teams and learning how to subdivide roles and responsibilities with limited resources and budgets, but common rules. Perhaps, however, the most important aspect is that these competitions do not turn the spotlight on the best students, but rather they awaken, stimulate high-potential students that are not sufficiently encouraged by traditional study tools.
As in the previous editions, the competition promises to provide fantastic entertainment! The competition regulations are on-line at www.minirobotics.org
Participating Schools
- LSS "Benedetto Croce"- Palermo
- IISS "Benedetto Radice" - Bronte
- ITIS "Archimede" - Catania
- IISS "G. Ferraris" - Acireale
- ITIS "E. Fermi" - Giarre
- LSS "Galileo Galilei" - Catania
- LSS "Boggio Lera" - Catania
- ITIS "G. Ferraris" - San Giovanni La Punta
- ITIS "G. Marconi" - Catania
- IISS "S. Giovanni Bosco" – Marsala
- ITITS "E. Morselli" - Gela
- LUDUM - Misterbianco
