Originally launched in Japan in 2002, the ABU Robocon (the Asia-Pacific Robot Contest) is an annual competition held by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, to encourage robotic inventions by young people in the region, create friendship among those with similar interests who will hopefully lead their countries in the 21st century, as well as help advance engineering and broadcasting technologies in the Asia-Pacific. The event is annually broadcasted in many countries through ABU media members.
China held the Competition’s top title for the past 3 successive years, and overwhelmed the region again this year by winning the 4th time in a row. It now holds the record for the most number of wins. The ABU Robocon 2010 took place in Cairo on September 21 with the theme “RoboPharaohs Build Pyramids”, attracting 17 teams from 16 countries and territories. This year, competitors were challenged with designing and building robots capable of constructing pyramids (without using any binding material) from three blocks. The team who finishes the task in the shortest time is declared winner.
Representing Vietnam is the LH LED team from Lac Hong University, which has outperformed dozens of other teams across the country. It have had a good head start after it beat 34 teams from universities, colleges and high schools nationwide to win the 2010 Vietnam robot competition held in the country in May. Led by the chief of Vietnam Robocon delegation, Dang Duy So, the team won second place of which, for them, is a huge leap after initially aiming for the third spot.
In the previous year’s competition held at Tokyo, the SPK-Knight team from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education represented the country and won the third prize. Since the contest was initiated in Japan in 2002, Vietnamese entrants have made it to five out of seven finals and won first-prize three times – in 2002, 2004 and 2006. As the next competition will be in Thailand, and with a year’s time to prepare for, Vietnam again aims to make a name.