Under the slogan “Allies for the Earth”, 148 teams from academic institutions in Caracas will demonstrate their expertise in robotics and computational thinking, overcoming challenges and designing solutions related to problems that affect the whole world, such as environmental sustainability and compliance with the Sustainable Development Goals
Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB) starts its engines to receive teams that will compete in the regional tournament World Robotics Olympiad (WRO) corresponding to the year 2024 in a competition to be held on Saturday, June 29.
For the second year alreadyuniversity premises in Montalbán will be made available WE FUND Venezuelathe institution responsible for organizing the competition, penultimate of 21 regional competitions carried out in different states.
The the day at UCAB will be the one with the largest participation in the country with a historical record of 148 teams of young people between the ages of 8 and 19 coming from institutions in Greater Caracaswho decides to participate in the national competition that will be held on July 9 and 10.
The winners of this final stage will compete for a place to represent Venezuela in the international finals to be held in Turkey at the end November.
Four categories and many challenges
Between 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m teams that will participate in the regional robotics olympiad to be held at UCAB They will be divided into four categories different from WRO, each has its own age range and specific issues.
- Robotic Missions: Participants must build and program a robot capable of completing a series of specific tasks on the track. It consists of three groups aged 8 to 12 years, 11 to 15 years and 14 to 19 years.
- Robotic Sports: The organizers present a challenge and teams must participate with two autonomous robots and compete in a match of a specific sport. For this edition, the chosen sport is tennis, so the robots will compete to move balls into the opponent’s half of the court. Young people from 11 to 19 years of age can participate, regardless of category.
- Future Engineers: Participants are presented with real-life problems and must use computational thinking to find solutions through engineering and robotics. This category allows the registration of teams with participants aged between 14 and 19 years.
- An innovative future: Participants present projects designed based on programming and robotics and develop a prototype robot that helps implement solutions related to the theme of the year. The category is intended for young people between the ages of 8 and 19.
Each issue has a specific theme. For this year’s edition, the organizers chose WRO “Earth Allies” as a slogan; The challenges are therefore focused on finding solutions for environmental sustainability related, in addition, to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Through various challenges, young people must demonstrate the knowledge and skills acquired after at least four months of preparation.
He Educational Innovation Center (CIED), unit attached to Social extension of UCAB, contributed to the training of 15 participating groups. In addition, he has advised several educational institutions.
Assaf Yamin, CIED member and former educational technology coordinator at the university, He explained that the students’ training included not only assembling robots and computer programming, but also a set of aspects that will enhance your comprehensive training, through the application of educational resources within the “STEAM” modality, an approach that combines the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics in the same training process.
“The process involves many things, knowing what robots are, robotics and how to build a robot, then programming. Another thing is that they generally learn to work as a team, to argue, to propose ideas and solutions. Communication, problem solving and decision making take place between them. “These are competencies that are required at the workplace level,” he explained.
Educational robotics: a valuable experience for young people
Professor Yamin emphasized that UCAB’s participation as an ally in the WRO regional competition is part of the robotics education program implemented by CIED in several schools in the sectors surrounding the university, which strives to give primary and secondary education students the tools to deal with the challenges that set the trend and standard in the world, as well as to cope with the shortcomings of the Venezuelan education system in this matter.
“We have an educational model that remains in the past, in the 19th century. When children encounter it, they are excited in such a way that they dream that we will teach them or they will come to university to work with it, because it is more connected to the current world, so they will eventually get closer to reality and the future in which can be trained to perform on the job’ held.
He added that the initiative is in line with CIED’s mission to contribute to the comprehensive development of children and adolescents through an approach that includes not only students but also their educators. Looking into the WRO, More than 40 teachers have received training from CIED.
“We teach them to build robots, to program, to develop computational thinking skills, teachers who had no idea about it, who had never programmed in their life and never heard of computational thinking. “Now they know there is a path they can follow to develop these skills in students,” an engineer specializing in learning processes emphasized.
(See also: UCAB Educational Robotics immerses elementary and middle school students in mechatronics)
That transversality It also includes UCAB students who are involved in the process as coaches, supporting character in preparation by teachers, and that in the process they end up reinforcing the learning they have gained in their careers.
Diego Huamani He is one of them. A telecommunications engineering student, he performs his community service at CIED, supporting the training of young people who will be part of the competition. He said his experience during those months was rewarding as he learned from the students he helps train.
“It was a very rewarding job as an escort. The boys have developed quite well during these months of training for the WRO. They pleasantly surprised me. At first you try to lead them, but when they get it, they are the ones who lead you,” performed.
For the regional Olympics on June 29, Huamaní has its expectations set higher than the results of the larger-scale competition in which there is a commitment to training young people who will later take over the reins of the country.
“I hope for an event based on learning, education, innovation with lots of creativity and love for science and technology. “These young people have a lot to give, they are promises, and this is where the new generation of innovators in Venezuela comes from.” projection.
A comprehensive day for all spectators
The tournament to be held at UCAB is scheduled as a large scale event, given the number of competitors that this edition accumulates, which quadruples the number of 33 teams registered in 2023.
Just like last year, participants will complete their tasks behind closed doors and a panel of experts appointed by the WRO will evaluate their performance and award them a score that will determine their place in the rankings at the end of the day and decide whether or not they advance to the national competition. The competitions can be watched via the giant screen at the Food Fair in the Montalbán campus.
In addition, attendees will enjoy entertainment, technology and robotics activities, as well as booths from various sponsoring companies. The invitation is open to all residents of Caracas. Free entry.
♦Text: Brian Contreras/Photos: Brian Contreras and Christian Lazo
