Contestants from various technical and vocational institutes expect to use microprocessors and modern technology in their robots whilst taking part it the 13th annual Robot Contest, which will take place at the end of this year.
A workshop to discuss the project was attended by a visiting Japanese expert from the Association for Advanced Education in Asia (AAEA), Prof. Dr Toshio Lijima National University of Laos’ Faculty of Engineering, in collaboration with the AAEA, organised a workshop on applied microprocessors for robot design for students from technical colleges in Vientiane, including the Electronics and Engineering Department of the faculty.
Vice Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Associate. Prof. Khamphouy Southisombath noted the importance of the robot contest in terms of developing students’ and teachers’ knowledge and capacity in regards to advanced electronics and robot design.
He said the faculty is committed to developing the abilities of its students in order to attend the Asia- Pacific robot contest each year.
The efficiency of the robots and the ingenuity of those controlling them will be tested by robot contest.
During the workshop, the participants learned about applied microprocessors for robot design from Japanese robot expert at the Association for Advanced Education in Asia, Mr. Noriyuki Komine.
The programme has been challenging but popular for students who are interested in engineering, science and technology.
The contest encourages the production of handmade robots by students at the technical and vocational colleges in Vientiane including the Faculty of Engineering.
This is considered ‘project based learning’, integrating the skills of computer programming, problem solving, and team work.
The robot technology contest has excited and captured the interest of teachers and students not only from the NUOL, but also from many other technical colleges and schools across Laos. Associate. Prof. Khamphouy said that Lao students are no less competitive than students from other countries. They have wonderful abilities and used various ingenious techniques against their competitors, despite the fact that they faced equipment shortages in producing their robots.
The National University of Laos hosts each year’s regional robot contest as a gesture of friendship and cooperation between regional universities. Although robot technology is a recent addition to the university’s curriculum, it has already become a firm tradition.
This year, the hosting of the competition was the collective effort of the Faculty of Engineering and Japan’s International Cooperation Agency experts, with financial and technical assistance from the agency, and donations from the Japanese Embassy in Vientiane as well as other organisations.
Source: Vientiane Times
