Local Brisbane schools won three out of the five events at the largest robotics competition for primary and high school students ever held in Queensland.
The University of Queensland played host to the annual RoboCup Junior Open Challenge during September 6 and 7 when 1400 competitors from about 200 schools from all around Australia and south-east Asia competed in the categories of dance, rescue and soccer.
Winners (listed below) included Brisbane Grammar School’s Thunder Robotics team, which won the rescue and premier rescue categories, while the Crocs Rock team from Kimberley Park State School won the junior dance competition.
The event was organised by UQ’s School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering (ITEE) and was held at the UQ Centre. Presentations were made by the Member for Indooroopilly Ronan Lee MP.
Activities officer for the School of ITEE Lynne Launt said teams had been preparing all year, building and programming robots using LEGO(TM).
“The focus of RoboCup Junior is to educate children not only to understand science and technology but also to survive in a society where technology has infiltrated beyond the imagination of early science fiction writers,” she said.
“RobCup Junior does this in a fun, exciting and challenging environment.”
The Previously Literally Stable team from St Peters Lutheran College in Indooroopilly were runners up in the rescue category while the Benny and Bjorn team from Pioneer State High School in Mackay grabbed third place in the open dance competition. Brisbane Boys College also gained third place in the soccer category.
Ms Launt said RoboCup Junior was created to stimulate the interest of students into artificial intelligence and robotics by providing a standard problem where a wide range of technologies could be integrated and examined. She said the competition would serve as a basis for project-oriented education.
“The ultimate goal of RoboCup is that by the middle of the 21st century a team of fully autonomous humanoid robot soccer players shall play a soccer game against the human world champions,” she said.
Ms Launt said RoboCup Junior promoted learning, teamwork and enjoyment.
“RoboCup Junior provides a unique opportunity for participants with a variety of interests and strengths to work as a team to achieve a common goal,” she said.
The winners and runners up are eligible to compete in the 2004 RoboCup Junior World Cup Competition in Lisbon, Portugal.
For photos, contact Diana Lilley (telephone 07 3365 2753, email: d.lilley@mailbox.uq.edu.au).
Soccer:
1. Robo Gods – St Ives North State School NSW,
2. Pioneer Gold – Pioneer State High School Qld,
3. RAW – Brisbane Boys College, Qld.
Premier Rescue:
1. Thunder Robotics – Brisbane Grammar School Qld,
2. Tom and Steve – Independent, Qld,
3. Wallies – Brisbane Boys College, Qld.
Rescue:
1. Thunder Robotics – Brisbane Grammar School Qld,
2. Previously Literally Stable – St Peters Lutheran College, Qld,
3. The Matrix Operators – New Town High School, Tasmania.
Open Dance:
1. Caribbean Cruises – Linked Training Group, NSW
2. JAS – Kardinya RoboClub, WA,
3. Benny and Bjorn – Pioneer State High School, Qld.
Junior Dance:
1. Crocs Rock – Kimberley Park State School, Qld.
2. Hills Hippies – The Hills Grammar School, NSW,
3. HockeyRoos – Kaleen Primary School, ACT.
Media: For more information, contact Lynne Launt (telephone 07 3365 4195, email: lynne@itee.uq.edu.au) or Chris Saxby at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2479, email: c.saxby@uq.edu.au).
