Greek Students Triumph in World Robotics Olympiad

The Greek national Robotics team recently won three medals in the Robotics Olympiad, held between June and September. The “First Global Challenge Team Greece” won one gold, one silver and one bronze medals.

The Robotics Olympiad First Global Challenge called “Discover and Recover 2021” was held from June 27 to September 25, 2021. It was conducted remotely, due to the pandemic restrictions. The First Global Challenge Robotics Olympiad is a robotics, science and technology event.

The Greek team grabbed the gold medal in the field of Health, the silver medal in the “Panacea” project, and the bronze medal for winning third place in the overall classification of the Olympics.

It is the first time that a Greek Robotics Team have won medals in a world event in all competing categories, as well as in the overall world ranking.

Greek Robotics team among 190 Olympiad participants

National teams from 190 countries participated in the “Discover and Recover 2021” Olympiad, with student competitors aged 16-18. It was the second “First Olympic Event” to be held exclusively remotely.

Its goal was to motivate young people around the world to engage in research and propose innovative solutions at tackling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in four areas: Health, education, the economy and the environment.

The Greek National Team was created by an initiative of the educational non-profit association called “Eduact – Action for Education.” It has been introducing new educational programs for all children in Greece since 2013, through innovative actions cultivating the skills of the future.

A cornerstone of Eduact’s work is the introduction of educational robotics in skill labs. In 2018, Eduact put Greece on the map of the global Robotics Olympiad First Global Challenge.

An open call to Greek students led to a team of 30 children from all over Greece from 14-18 years of age. They were selected based on their programming and robotics skills, their engagement with science and their experience in both national and world events.

Students selected based on robotics and programming skills

All the above were evaluated by a special committee of educational academics and members of the Board of Directors of Eduact. They then made the final selection for the Olympiad entries.

Pupils from Thessaloniki, Attica, Patras, Nafpaktos, Orestiada and Crete worked hard all summer. Their first creation was the “Panacea” robot, an autonomous home nurse which can take patients’ vital signs, inform medical staff and disinfect a small area.

Their second invention was the “Hero” robot, which can move accurately within defined paths, collect and carry objects, throw balls and cubes at a distance, and even lift weights.

Their final achievement was their version of the so-called Cubesat, a small meteorological satellite designed to study atmospheric data and alert the ground station about potential fires.

Three rounds equal three medals for Greek students

The Olympics involved three rounds. In the first round, called the Solutions Challenge Award, the Greek National Team chose the very key sector of health, and developed “Panacea.”

In the second round, the Greek team had to create an alliance with a team from a different continent that had chosen the same theme category. The Greeks chose Canada and started working with students from that country.

They jointly advanced to the third round, called the Solution Grand Challenge Award. They combined their innovative solutions into a joint integrated proposal, which was declared best in the world.

The Greek team was led by Anastasios Kollias, PhD, from the University of Athens. He is also an “O3 Out of the Ordinary” LEGO Education trainer and a research associate of Eduact and the Greek Robotics Team