Qualifiers of the I Amazon Robotics Challenge Define Finalists of the Competition
The announcement of the ten teams that will compete for the champion trophy will take place by June 2; finals will occur on the 28th of the same month
With rounds lasting two and a half minutes, the battles of the qualifiers of the I Amazon Robotics Challenge engaged the student class of Pará with competitions among the 65 teams formed by students from different public schools in the North region, in what will be the largest event of its kind at the regional level. The confrontations concluded on Tuesday, the 27th, with many significant matches.
In total, more than 300 students participated in the competition for a spot in the grand final, which will take place on June 28 in Belém. The initiative is from the Government of Pará through the Secretary of Science, Technology, and Higher, Professional, and Technological Education (Sectet) and with the support of the Guamá Foundation and the Federal University of Pará - UFPA.
Sustainability and COP 30 - All competitions held on May 26 and 27 for the qualifiers included sustainability in the actions developed and presented by the teams. This is because the event's theme is "Sustainability in the Amazon and COP 30." The intention is to associate the challenges proposed by the tournament with the environmental discussions that will take place in Belém during the UN Climate Event in November this year.
Among the results is a series of initiatives conceived by those who know the region and live in it. One example is the life jacket made of miriti, a project presented by the TecTigers team, formed by students from the Deodoro de Mendonça and Anísio Teixeira State Schools, both in Belém.
According to the team's instructor, Professor Bethânia Gomes, the idea is to use models of jackets already produced industrially but replace polyethylene with miriti fiber, ensuring the same buoyancy capacity of the instrument from a commercially more viable and ecologically sustainable material.
“Miriti is, in fact, biodegradable, which prevents any type of pollution if the material is discarded or lost in rivers and seas. Not to mention that we are dealing with a typical palm tree from our region, which can be found in various cities and is accessible to many riverside dwellers who use the rivers as streets,” the professor emphasizes.
The qualifiers featured competitions where teams presented, via online broadcasts, the execution of challenges with their respective robots, as determined by the tournament regulations. Now, the scoring analysis period opens before the announcement of the winners.
The final competition will take place in person in Belém on June 28. The ten finalist teams enter this stage of the tournament with their scores reset. Entry for public participation will be free and open.
The final challenge - In the final competitions, the contest will be divided into the categories Robot Arena and Innovation Project. In the first, teams will face off using autonomous robots capable of executing different challenges on the competition table. In the second, teams must identify a problem related to the central theme of the challenge (Sustainability in the Amazon and COP 30), proposing an innovative solution or improving an existing one.
“I have had access to the sustainable ideas presented by the participating teams so far, and I am amazed by the level of creativity and intelligence of all the teams. This not only contributes to the appreciation of ecological debate, especially in a COP 30 year, but also shows that our students and teachers have a profound level of knowledge about our Amazon and how our territory can become an increasingly better place,” highlighted the head of Sectet, Victor Dias.
The teams that will participate in the grand final of the I Amazon Robotics Challenge will be announced by June 02. Other details about the competition can be found in the project notice, available on the event's website.
Text: Pedro Paulo Blanco
