STMicroelectronics and ARM Nurture Young Talent in Korea in Robot Design

STMicroelectronics and ARM equipped contestants with key components and Keil MDK development tools for the design of the robots. The companies also trained the finalist teams on how to implement the motor-control functions to capture target objects, as well as how to transfer commands and process images from the robot’s camera module using ST’s STM32 ARM Cortex™ technology microcontrollers.

“The robot design contest produced huge interest among engineering students and graduates and we saw real talent building outstanding robots,” said Marco Cassis, Executive Vice President and President, Japan and Korea Region, STMicroelectronics. “All finalists have demonstrated innovative thinking and excellent design skills in unleashing the potential of ST’s state-of-the-art tools and technologies. These efforts will undoubtedly contribute to the development of the emerging robot industry in Korea.”

“Although this was the first time we organized such a contest, we were immensely surprised at the large number of truly creative inventions devised by our students,” said Jong-Hwan Kim, Professor at KAIST (Korea Advanced Institution of Science and Technology) and Chairman of International Robot Olympiad Committee. “Encouraged by this year’s success, we aim at developing this event into an international robot design competition by 2013.”

“It is our pleasure that ARM has the opportunity to sponsor this Robot Design Contest in Korea, enabling young innovative engineering students and graduates to experience the robot design arena, whilst exploring the benefits offered by the ARM 32bit architecture, bringing cost and energy efficiency to robotic design,” said Youngsub, Kim, President of ARM Korea “ARM is committed to enable innovation which will reshape our everyday life to be more efficient, effective and mobile.”

The Explorer Robot Challenge 2010 winners, announced at the award ceremony on October 31, were:

* 1st place, awarded by the Minister of Knowledge and Economy, DolSoe team of Kyung Hee University
* 2nd place, awarded by the Korean Intellectual Property Office, RATS team of Myongji University
* 3rd place, awarded by the Korea Robot Industry Agency, SandI team of Kyung Hee University and ISL-E team of Kangnam University

The winning team, DolSoe’s robot was the fastest to reach the target object and strongest to defend the object from being seized by a competing robot. The victorious machine boasted the best design and algorithm that helped it navigate through obstacles, traps and labyrinths in the shortest time.

The first-of-its-kind event in Korea, the Explorer Robot Challenge 2010 was held in conjunction with the International Robot Contest hosted by the Korean Ministry of Knowledge and Economy and the annual Robot World exhibition.