Christian Daniels (center) and Juan Carlos Feraro explain their entry that won the top prize in the WRO-USA competition held July 26-27 at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn as part of Maker Faire Detroit.
Teams from the United States are competing in the World Robot Olympiad (WRO) for the first time this year, and it’s not too late to participate. The competition is open to students from elementary school through high school, and teams can register at www.wroboto.us.
The first World Robot Olympiad USA (WRO-USA) state tournament in Michigan was organized by Lawrence Technological University (LTU) and held July 26-27 at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn as part of Maker Faire Detroit. The second Michigan tournament will be held at the Cranbrook Schools on Sept. 6.
The WRO-USA national finals will be held at LTU in Southfield on Sept. 27.
An informational meeting and a “Rocket” game workshop will be held at LTU on Wednesday Aug. 6, 6:30-8 p.m. in room M218 of the Buell Management Building. For information, contact robofest@LTU.edu.
WRO is a global LEGO Robotics competition started in Singapore in 2004. Each participating country has its own competition, and the winning teams from each country will be invited to attend the World Robot Olympiad scheduled to be held in the Olympic city of Sochi in Russia in November.
This year nearly 20,000 teams from 49 countries are participating in the WRO. Other WRO-USA tournaments have been scheduled in California, Illinois, New York, Oregon, Texas and Washington state. In the process the competitors gain new understanding of science, technology, engineering and math – the STEM subjects.
LTU Computer Science Professor CJ Chung has been appointed as the USA national organizer. Chung is the founder of Robofest, another international competition that makes it fun to learn about robots and STEM subjects. WRO-USA will be coordinated by the Robofest office (www.robofest.net) at LTU.
“WRO is an event that brings young people from all over the world together. Teams of youngsters get the opportunity to learn more about STEM and develop their creative and problem-solving skills through various robotics challenges,” Chung said.
Lawrence Technological University, www.ltu.edu, is a private university founded in 1932 that offers more than 100 programs through the doctoral level in its Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Engineering, and Management. PayScale lists Lawrence Tech among the nation’s top 100 universities for return on undergraduate tuition investment, and highest in the Detroit metropolitan area. Lawrence Tech is also listed in the top tier of Midwestern universities by U.S. News and World Report and the Princeton Review. Students benefit from small class sizes and experienced faculty who provide a real-world, hands-on, “theory and practice” education with an emphasis on leadership. Activities on Lawrence Tech’s 102-acre campus include over 60 student clubs and organizations and a growing roster of NAIA varsity sports.