Eco robot puts pupils in top contest

A robot that fishes rubbish from water has won its Dubai schoolboy creators a place in a competition in Japan.

Schoolgirls building a robot at the Abu Dhabi Education Council UAE National Robot Olympiad in Abu Dhabi.

DUBAI // A "swimming" robot that fishes rubbish from water has won its Dubai schoolboy creators a ticket to a prestigious competition in Japan. The three pupils are heading to Yokohama at the end of the month to compete in the World Robot Olympiad after their creation won the open category at the national version of the event at Al Mawaheb Model School in Abu Dhabi yesterday. Three pupils who won another competition to build a robot from scratch will also travel to Japan.

The competition, which aims to develop pupils' interest in science and technology, was launched in 2006 by EduTech Middle East, a private technology company. "They learn without knowing that they're learning," said Senthil Kugan of EduTech, adding robots made the rudiments of engineering fun. The Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec), which is a partner in the event, plans to introduce robotics into the public school curriculum next year as part of IT classes.

"It really creates challenges for our children," said Dr Mugheer al Khaili, Adec's director general. "This is the future and we have to engage our children to use the technology." The competition, which drew hundreds of pupils from schools across the country, was split into three categories. Teams in the "open category" had to develop a robotic solution to a problem with the theme of "saving the global environment".

The appearance of the winning entry, Poseidon, was inspired by the shape of an alligator. Its designers, pupils from Our Own High School, in Al Warqa'a, gave it four propellers to move, a claw to grab rubbish underwater, and a container on top to collect floating waste. The device can be controlled by Bluetooth. Teams competing in the "regular" category were given two-and-a-half hours to assemble a robot from scratch. A third category, aimed at children with less experience, was introduced this year and required them to build a robot from Lego, another sponsor of the competition.

Mohammed al Rashdy, 14, from Al Ta Miuz Model School in Al Ain, said: "We will definitely come back. It's a wonderful opportunity to make our minds grow." [e-mail]