Iranian students eyeing world robotics title
By Sadeq Dehqan
Staff writer
The elite children of Iran are among the favorites to claim the world robotics title in 2024, according to the head of the country’s student robotics team, which was recently crowned the champion at the UniKL International Robattle Competition in Malaysia.
The Iranian team beat China and the host country to the top spot in the three-day continental event, held by the Universiti Kuala Lumpur in mid-December.
“The 34-member team, comprising 24 boys and 10 girls, took part in four categories of sumo, line follower, innovation, and technical report leagues,” Nader Nobakht told Iran Daily.
“Twelve teams, mostly from East and Southeast Asian countries, participated at the event. South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and India are the top robotics teams in the continent,” Nobakht added.
“The Iranian team took part at the world championships, contested by 34 teams, four months ago, finishing as the runner-up in China,” said the head of the team, adding: “Given the Iranian children’s skills and determination, I’m sure our team is more than capable of winning the world title, and we have already set sights on achieving that goal next year.”
“Iranian students are best known for being so smart and highly talented in the world, and those attributes make a massive contribution when it comes to robotics contests.
“Iranian children are quick learners and good at communicating with participants from other countries. Personally speaking, I believe their talent and smartness are even more valuable than the national resources such as oil and gas for Iran, if the country is to reach the highest scientific and technological level worldwide.”
Nobakht added: “Our children excel at different scientific competitions around the world, but they will need to be provided with more modern-day equipment and facilities to flourish as professionals when they grow older.”
Asked about the process to pick the robotics team, Nobakht said: “The children’s talent is first recognized by their parents, before they are introduced to the Robotics Society of Iran. The students then take training courses at the College of Engineering, the University of Tehran, and participate in an annual competition held by the university, where the top students are picked for the national team.”
“Our top priority is to have students from every corner of the country in the team, as there were children from numerous provinces, namely Isfahan, Fars, Kerman, Khuzestan, and Khorasan Razavi, in the squad that headed to the Malaysian capital.”