Robots with AI to compete at int'l tournament

More than 4,000 contestants from 20 countries are expected to participate in a robotics competition organized by the Ministry of National Education (MEB).

The "MEB Robot Competition" will be held next year in the Black Sea province of Samsun between April 10 and April 12.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), Education Minister Ziya Selçuk said that the theme of the competition will be "artificial intelligence practices."

He added that the competition will be organized to improve the quality of vocational and technical education in Turkey, to raise social awareness on robotics, promote and show the industrial and technological developments and share experiences. "With the competition, we aim to contribute to the education of high school and university students as entrepreneurs and competitive individuals who can transform their acquired knowledge into skills, develop products and think scientifically," he said.

"We are expecting to attract a lot of attention this year. We will organize the event jointly with our Ministry of Technology and Industry. It is one of the biggest and most organized robotics competitions in Turkey. For the first time in 2019, the competition will focus on artificial intelligence (AI). We invite all high school and university students to our competition," he added.

The competition's free project category was limited for the first time this year. Thus projects developed in the fields of AI, health and security will be allowed to participate. The event will be broadcast live on the internet for three days.

At the event, robots will compete in the categories of thematic (AI), line follower, line follower-drag race, sumo, mini-sumo, robotino (mobile robots), unmanned aerial vehicle (mini-drone), humanoid robots, industrial robotics arms, design & build, egg collection (loggerhead sea turtle) and free projects (AI, health and safety) categories.

The winners of every category will be awarded TL 7,500 ($1,393), while the runner-ups will receive TL 6,000 and third place winner will get TL 4,500.

Detailed information about the competition can be found at MEB's robotics page.