ASU keeps up pupils’ interest in robotics

On 13–14 March 2017 Altai State University held a competition in robotics and intelligent systems for school children in the framework of “Technology. Creativity. Success” festival. Over 100 pupils came to participate.

“Robotics, especially children robotics, develops rapidly in Altai Krai,” said Vice Dean of the Faculty of Physics and Technology, competition curator Vasyli Belozerskih. “There are a lot of children hobby clubs in Barnaul and other cities of Altai Krai. Such competitions awaken pupils’ interest in robotics, which requires broad knowledge. Besides technical skills, pupils should be able to program and know physics, kinetics and mathematics.”

Robotics festival becomes more popular each year. A lot of pupils consider it to be not only a ticket to all-Russian and international competitions, but also the first step in choosing their future vocation. Such competitions are also vital for development of robotics, information technologies and biotechnologies in Altai Krai and Russia.

“We are happy to see that participants’ level of training has increased. One of the reasons for that are workshops in robotics organized by ASU. Pupils come to Altai State University during their school holidays in order to attend these workshops, where university specialists teach robotics to them. All that also gives a boost to development of robotics in schools that have already started to purchase equipment for the children to study and practice on a regular basis,” noted Vasyli Belozerskih.

On the first day of competition pupils presented a lot of projects for smart homes (robots that can open and close the blinds, put the light on and off) and ecological robots for garbage collection. The second day was dedicated to the so-called robot fights.

“This competition is a preliminary round before the all-Russian competitions. Although our  key objective is to support talented children and create conditions for their further intellectual and creative development. Moreover, we are trying to popularize technologies among children and young people and heighten their interest in engineering,” explained Vasyli Belozerskih.

The organizers noted that the interest in engineering had increased. More students choose technology and engineering as their major and future profession. Such specialists are very important as they can solve different kinds of problems including ecological, economic, biological and technical ones. Even 8-year old pupils have already become more technology savvy, which means that there is no need to worry about the future of Russian science.