VietNamNet Bridge – This year's Robot Contest (Robocon) features robots built under the theme of Loy Krathong, the traditional Thai festival of lights. The competition finals will take place at the Tien Son Sports Centre in the central city of Da Nang on May 9-15.

The 32 best teams out of 425 teams from 56 colleges and universities nationwide will compete in three final rounds for the championship of Robocon Viet Nam 2011, according to Tran Binh Minh, general director of Viet Nam Television, the contest's organiser.

The champion team will represent Viet Nam at Asian Broadcasting Union (ABU) Robot Contest in Bangkok, Thailand, in August.

Robocon 2011 will be dramatic because of the interesting but difficult theme, said Viet Nam Robotics Association chairman Nguyen Thien Phuc.

The theme of this year's contest, Loy Krathong - Lighting Happiness with Friendship, was chosen by the host nation. The festival is celebrated by people dropping candlelit lotus-shaped paper boats into lakes and rivers.

Each team has four members who will be allowed to use up to three robots, including two automatic and one manual, to place a Krathong boat on the water surface within three minutes. Each Krathong boat includes a lamp stand, flower and three candles, and the first team that sets the light boat in the water successfully gains the victory.

"During the short span of three minutes, the competitors have to control the robots to do different things, so they may lose their calm," said Phuc. "However, the difficulty requires them to create smart robots if they are going to win."

The opening ceremony of the final round next Monday will mark the 10th year of Robocon with a music show featuring singers Hoang Hai, Thai Thuy Linh, My Linh and Philippine singer Janicee Buco, who will perform the song Loy Krathong.

The closing ceremony on May 15 will feature a show of flower lanterns show made by 1,000 artists, volunteers and students.

Within the framework of Robocon Viet Nam 2011, the Robocon Techshow exhibition will display automation products made by students. The expo is aimed at encouraging students to apply knowledge from research and find real-life applications for technology.

Products to be exhibited will include electric wheelchairs, electronic control systems for washing blood filter equipment, fuel-saving vehicles and a robot that recognises handwriting and voices.

The Robocon Open for high school students will also attempt to nurture potential Robocon contestants for the future, with Robocon Techshow teams introducing some simple technologies and guiding students to make a finished robot.

It was expected that the Robocon Techshow and Robocon Open would draw the great interest from audiences with the widescale diversification of automation products, said Dang Phan Thu Huong, deputy director of Toyota Motor Viet Nam, the primary sponsor of Robocon Viet Nam over the past 10 years.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News