With a robot like this, becoming a superhero is no dream
Robots show off their programming skills, demonstrating through action how technology creates miracles. On October 3, the China UAV and Robot Application Competition was held at the Xixia National Modern Agriculture Demonstration Zone in Nanchang, Jiangxi, where the dazzling robots opened the eyes of the audience on site.
The competition scene
Earnestly and patiently directing the robots to "move," holding their breath and concentrating as they debugged robot programs, 17 teams from Zhejiang, Hebei, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Beijing and Shandong demonstrated their learning and hands-on abilities on site, competing together for the grand prize.
On the performance stage, humanoid robots put on theatrical performances, from "Michael Jackson's Beat It" to "Liu Bei's Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage," from "The Fox and the Crow: A New Tale" to the duel at the "Summit of the Forbidden City," blending technology and culture, with the modern echoing the traditional. Under the contestants' direction, the robots moved smoothly and responded flexibly, using artificial intelligence to continuously learn and replace human behavior through machines, truly helping us realize our "superhero" dream.
The vast majority of the middle school team members in the competition were students from their senior year of high school. When asked whether competing would delay their studies, the students all said it would not affect their studies at all; on the contrary, training robots made their thinking more active. They usually used weekends and lunch breaks for programming, balancing work and rest, so that neither school nor training was neglected.
Middle school contestants and their robots
"The competition requires students to use computer software to program and design movements. There are training classes from elementary school all the way to high school. Students must operate the robots quickly and steadily to complete the movements, which is truly difficult." Dr. Chen Jinguang, the team leader, said with emotion: "The reason most of the contestants this time are senior high school students is that their skills are relatively stable, and their creative proposals and programming and debugging abilities are also higher than those of other grades. More importantly, we hope they can stand out in the competition and gain support for their future career development."
Elementary school contestants and their robots
The decisive factors in the competition mainly come down to two points: first, the students' abilities and the team's operational coordination; second, the level of robot technology and the quality of materials and craftsmanship. Behind every robot is the painstaking effort of the students: writing code, soldering circuit boards, wiring connections... What looks like fun is actually the result of exhausting effort.
Robot performance on site
Elementary school group creative building
At present, robot education and robot technology can be said to be encouraged, supported and popularized by the state. In particular, robot education for young people has received attention and support from all regions, and robot education in schools everywhere is also being continuously strengthened, whether in elementary schools, middle schools or universities. This is also related to a series of reasons such as the market and talent. New artificial intelligence technology is gradually maturing, and the trend has quietly taken shape. Cultivating and finding a group of talents with accomplishments in the field of automation through popular and well-liked methods is of great benefit to the maturity of the robot management and manufacturing industries.
In any case, although a robot like this may indeed not look gorgeous enough right now, the robot era we fantasized about in childhood really seems to be slowly arriving.