OREANDA-NEWS. November 19, 2013. The biggest robotics competition in the Baltic States, Robotex, with over 230 robot participants will be attended by the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will visit Robotex in the course of his two-day visit to Estonia, and will deliver a welcoming speech.

According to Mr. Ban Ki-moon it is time to harness the power of science for the global good.  “Some of the inventions we need are hi-tech; others can be simple. What is most important is that we close the technology gap.  Too much of the world remains cut off from scientific advances,” said Secretary-General. “I commend your commitment to encouraging young people to embrace science as a career.”

At Robotex, Mr. Ban Ki-moon will be given an introduction to the history of the competition and presented with an overview of the technology exhibition. The Secretary-General will also visit the workshops and take a look at the creative contest entries. Moreover, robot footballers will perform for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Over 230 robots and 500 robot builders will participate in the robotics competition Robotex. This is the largest number of competing robots in the history of Robotex. The majority of registered robot builders are from Estonia, but robot builders from Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, and Finland have also promised to attend.

According to Marti Arak, the Head Organiser of Robotex and a PhD student at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Tallinn University of Technology, Ban Ki-moon’s arrival at Robotex will be a great honour. “This indicates that ensuring the continued growth of the development of Estonian robotics has been worthwhile, and Ban Ki-moon, who comes from the homeland of the technology giants, recognises this with his presence,” Arak said. “In addition to the importance of robotics, the attendance of the Secretary-General of the United Nations demonstrates the quality of the event and places great value on Estonian higher education and innovation created by companies, which is demonstrated at the Technology Exhibition.”

Robotex 2013 is taking place from 16 to 17 November. The main contests include line following, football, Mini Sumo, LEGO Sumo, 3 kg Sumo, iRobot Sumo, and the ICD Grand Challenge “Rescue Mission on Sea” with a €5000 prize fund. The rallycross contest Folkrace serves as a new competition. Admission to Robotex is free for everyone.

The most exciting showpieces of the technology exhibition taking place under the framework of Robotex are robot vacuum cleaners, humanoid robots, flexible manufacturing systems, quadrotor helicopters, and Lego-robots.

The technology exhibition also displays a KUKA industrial robot, the learning robot Robotino, a brain scanner, a hydraulic bicycle and an electric race car developed by TUT students. Also, the entries of the drawing, video, digital drawing, and photo contests can be seen.