Student contest to enhance robotic design talent with eye on AEC

Broad expertise in this area would help develop the region’s overall industrial sector, especially the automotive industry, for which Thailand is an important global manufacturing hub.
Dr Witaya Wannansuphoprasit, director of the Human Robotics Laboratory at Chulalongkorn University, said there were several courses available in Thailand on robot engineering as well as related courses such as electrical, mechanical and computer engineering. They produce many thousands of graduates every year.
He said the regional trade liberalisation under the AEC that will become fully effective in 2015 would cause a flow of robot technicians into Thailand, especially in the automotive industry. However, Thailand will be able to export its qualified technicians into other countries in the AEC as well.
“I myself do not look at them [foreign technicians] as competition, but all Asean members need to work hand in hand in developing qualified robotics talent, especially in technical skills and programming, which will further develop the region’s industrial sector at the international level and beyond,” Witaya said.
The National Metal and Materials Technology Centre (MTEC), the National Science and Technology Development Agency and the Ministry of Science and Technology, in cooperation with four leading universities, will host the fifth Robot Design Contest on May 12 at Panthip Plaza in Bangkok. RDC 2012 is aimed at encouraging Thai youth to develop skills in designing and developing robot mechanics.
It will also be used to search for local representatives at an international robot contest to be held in Japan in August. The universities supporting RDC 2012 are Chulalongkorn, Chiang Mai University, Prince of Songkla University and Suranaree University of Technology.
Associate Professor Dr Werasak Udomkichdecha, executive director of the MTEC, said this would be the fifth consecutive year of the Robot Design Contest. It helps develop young local talent in the field of design and mechanical development for robots, and encourages them to study seriously about robot technology and automation systems.
The organisers of RDC 2012 have seen the importance of having the support of institutions in the development of local talent in this field, so the competition will be wide open for applicants from any region of Thailand, both at university and vocational-school levels.
“For this year’s competition, we will add a special showcase of automatic mobile robots, a first in Thailand, to support the event,” Werasak said. “Last year, the competition focused only on developing local talent and their skills in designing mobile mechanics. However, this year, we want to develop the students’ skills further in software and mechanical design so that they can add value to their own studies and work in the future.”
About 92 students from several educational institutes, gathering into 20 teams, have already passed the competitions in their regions, and will go on to join the national-level competition.
They are taking part in a training session and workshop that started this month and will run until May 11 at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, so that they can have a better understanding of robot design in both theory and practice.

TECHNIQUE SHARING
RDC 2012 will be different from other robotics competitions as all the teams will have a mix of students from different universities, so they can share their own unique and special techniques with other team members.
The organisers will set criteria for the contestants, including materials and equipment required for the design and construction of robots, which will be based on the idea of environmental responsibility. The theme of this year’s competition will be “Reactions to Climate Change”, which will reflect the problem of global warming and prepare for enhancing protections against natural disasters.
The winners of RDC 2012 will be Thailand’s representatives at the Robocon International Design Contest along with competitors from Brazil, the United States, France, Germany, South Korea, China, Singapore and Morocco. This international robot-design contest has been held since 1990, and Thailand has sent representatives since 2007. Thailand was the host country for the competition in that year and has won the first prize since then for four consecutive years.
“IDC Robocon 2012” be held |from August 5-19 at Tokyo Denki University.