School kids put their Artificial Intelligence (AI) to the test in the largest robotics competition for primary and high school students held in Queensland.
The University of Queensland hosted more than 200 teams from all over Australia during the 2004 RoboCup Junior Australian Open and Queensland Championships at the UQ Centre, Union Road, St Lucia campus from September 4-5.
Queensland schools including Brisbane Boys’ College (BBC), Brisbane Grammar School, Pioneer State High School, St Peters Lutheran College, Junction Park State School, Toowong State School and Rockhampton State High School competed in five categories: Soccer, Open Rescue, Premier Rescue, Dance and Open Dance.
In the Open Dance category, Pioneer State High’s Probot Singers team from Mackay, jived their way into second place in the Australian Open competition. The school then took a clean sweep of the Queensland event with the Probot Singers taking first place, followed by Disco Techno Strauss and Green Goblins.
There was more success for Pioneer when the school’s Blokes with Lego team won the Queensland title in the Soccer category.
Local Brisbane schools also celebrated success with BBC’s Robohazard team securing the State title in the Premier Rescue category while Toowong State School’s The pirates who don’t do anything won the Dance competition and came second in the Australian Open final.
Robotics expert and senior lecturer at UQ’s School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering (ITEE) Dr Gordon Wyeth said many of the teams had been preparing all year for the competition.
“For young students RoboCup Junior provides an exciting introduction to the field of robotics,” Dr Wyeth said.
“It offers a new way to develop technical abilities through hands-on experience with electronics, hardware and software and provides a highly motivating opportunity to learn teamwork skills.”
Dr Wyeth said the purpose of RoboCup was to foster AI and robotics research by providing a standard problem where a wide range of technologies could be integrated and examined.
“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 and win a soccer game against the human world champions,” he said.
In 2001 the School of ITEE established a resource centre to enable Queensland schools to participate in the RoboCup Junior Competitions.
The school provides workshops for students and teachers where they can learn how to build and program robots, giving them the skills to compete in RoboCup Junior. Each year the School also makes a number of kits available for loan to schools.
Dr Wyeth said the upcoming generation would develop the technologies of the new millennium and robotics would very likely be a key technology.
“RoboCup Junior is all about learning the technical and teamwork skills that will lead young Australians to the forefront of the next technology revolution,” he said.
The winners are now eligible to compete in the 2005 RoboCup Junior World Cup competition in Osaka, Japan.
Media: For more information or photos, contact ITEE Activities Officer Lynne Launt (telephone 07 3365 4195, email: lynne@itee.uq.edu.au) or Dr Wyeth (telephone 07 3365 3770, email: wyeth@itee.uq.edu.au) or Chris Saxby at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2479, email: c.saxby@uq.edu.au).
RESULTS
SOCCER
Queensland
1. Blokes with Lego – Pioneer SHS
2. Hartley’s Heroes – Mackay North SHS
3. BumbleBees – St Peters Lutheran College
Australia Open
1. Formula 1 – Sacred Heart College Geelong, Vic
2. Robo Wizards – Sydney Home Educators, NSW
3. Dominators – Cranbrook School, NSW
RESCUE
Queensland
1. Robofreaks – Junction Park State School
2. Laud Tolly – Brisbane Boys’ College
3. Rocky High 2 – Rockhampton State High School
Australian Open
1. J-Robot – Bellevue Heights Primary School, SA
2. Searching Tigers – Cranbrook School, NSW
3. 2 Fast 2 Furious – Bellarine Secondary College, Vic
PREMIER RESCUE
Queensland
1. Robohazard – Brisbane Boys' College
2. CQ Rescue – Pioneer SHS
3. Xassius – Brisbane Grammar School
Australia Open
1. J-Robot Bellevue – Heights Primary School, SA
2. Xassius – Brisbane Grammar School, Qld
3. Robohazard – Brisbane Boys' College, Qld
DANCE
Queensland
1. The pirates who don’t do anything – Toowong State School
2. Cyclops – Junction Park State School
3. Hot Dogs – Moranbah State school
Australian Open
1. Lord of the Rappers – Scotch College Junior School, Vic
2. The pirates who don’t do anything – Toowong State School, Qld
3. Cyclops – Junction Park State School, Qld
OPEN DANCE
Queensland
1. Probot Singers – Pioneer SHS
2. Disco Techno Strauss – Pioneer SHS
3. Green Goblins – Pioneer SHS
Australian Open
1. Athens eat your heart out – Linked Training Group, NSW
2. Probot Singers – Pioneer SHS, Qld
3. Recycled – Bellarine Secondary College, Vic
