The Siam Cement Group (SCG) in conjunction with the Thai Robotics Society and Mahidol University made a debut of the final 8 robots in Thailand Rescue Robot Championship and their designing teams. Each is confident of winning in the final round competition on 19 November 2005 at 10.00 a.m. at MCC Hall, The Mall Ngamwongwan.
The second Thailand Rescue Robot Championship this year has attracted 109 robotics teams from 33 academic institutions across the country with a total of 61 competing robots. The first round of judging, which was held on 14-16 October 2005, selected 8 finalist teams including the Jabarok II team, the West KMIT’ NB team and the Rummage team from King Monkut’s Institute of Technology North Bangkok; the CigoL TroP team from Mahidol University; the Hoy Lod team from Samut Songkhram Technical College; ZAD team from Srinakharinwirot University Ongkarak Campus; the Poly-BOT II team from Darunaratohaburi Polytechnic School; and last year’s champion, the Independent team from King Monkut’s Institute of Technology North Bangkok Prachin Buri Campus.
Ms. Matana Leongnarktongdee Corporate Communications Director of The Siam Cement Public Company Limited, said, “Siam Cement believes in capability of Thai youngsters in science and technology. We therefore stage this Thailand Rescue Robot Championship Competition to encourage youths to create innovation that will benefit to society and bring reputation to the country. Our goal is to fully support talented youths to take their steps to world-class competition. The group will provide full sponsorship for the winner of Thailand Rescue Robot Championship in joining World Robocup competition in Germany, scheduled in June 2006,”
Dr. Jackrit Suthakorn, organizing committee chairman of the Thailand Rescue Robot Championship 2005 and Thai Robotics Society committee member, said the 8 finalist teams all have very good robotics skills. This year’s competition has also showcased sophisticated robots of greater capabilities since each team has endeavored to develop new mechanical novelties for their robots to better meet the technical challenges. The final tournament is thus believed to be a very close and exciting competition with the rules that are in compliance with the World Robocup Rescue contest rules. This year, the surface of the floors in the final round will be more challenging for the robots to accomplish the rescue mission. This is designed to test the mobility capabilities of the robots.
Assoc Prof. Prabhas Chongstitvatana, President of the Thai Robotics Society, said the winning team will receive a cash prize of 200,000 baht and enter the World Robocup Rescue 2006 in Germany as representatives for Thailand. The second runner up will receive 100,000 baht in cash prize. The Best Technique and Best Creativity awards, with the cash prize of 50,000 bath each, will also be given. Moreover, each finalist teams also receive 30,000 baht cash, provided for developing their robots.
The final round competition will take place on 19 November 2005 at MCC Hall, The Mall Ngamwongwan, starting from 10.00 a.m. It is open to the public, and the admission is free.
Thailand Rescue Robot Championship is one of SCG’s social activities that has continued for two consecutive years. The objective is to support and encourage Thai youth to develop their knowledge and capability in creating innovations which will be of practical use to society. This can help develop a generation of highly capable and moral young people who can contribute to the development of the country.
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