Why toys when there are robots?

BANGALORE: The Canadian International School Bangalore, hosted the sixth edition of the Indian Robot Olympiad at their school campus. The event saw the participation of 158 students representing 12 of Bangalore’s schools, as well as three schools (one each) from Ooty, Kodaikanal and Secunderabad. With the aim of promoting interest in technology and the spirit of innovation in students, the event was organised by Techtronics Education India Pvt Ltd and Lego Education. Dr Anil Menon, president, globalisation & intelligent urbanisation, Cisco Systems was the chief guest. Besides Bangalore, the Indian Robot Olympiad is held in three other major cities; Mumbai, Chennai, and Delhi. The competition is conducted in three categories — Primary (12 Years), Junior (13-15 years) and Senior High (16-19 year). The top four teams from each category will get a chance to represent India at the World Robot Olympiad (WRO) in Abu Dhabi, being held from November 17 - 20 this year. Robotics is turning into an integral part of a school’s curriculum. It is a fun and engaging way of teaching fundamental technology, science and maths concepts through its ability to integrate across a broad   range of topics. Shweta Sastri, the executive director of Canadian International School said, “We are delighted to be hosting the Indian Robot Olympiad this year. Robotics challenges various facets of a student’s intellect like creativity,  spatial skills, kinematics  and programming knowledge.  It is absolutely in sync with our ethos of hands-on learning facilitated through practical application of basic and advanced concepts. Last year, a team of students from our school won the Indian Robot Olympiad and represented the country at the World Robot Olympiad in the Philippines. We wish our teams success in this    year’s Olympiad.” Mentors and educators from 60 participating schools worked with their team of students and a robotics kit to prepare for the competition and to inspire students to appreciate science, technology, engineering and mathematics using real-world context and hands-on  experimentation.