Participants in the 3rd MRC Robotics Olympiad (Minoan Robotsports Competition) GLOBAL OLYMPIAD, held in Heraklion from Friday 26 April to Monday 29 April 2024, are responding to the challenge of building a robot-athlete, which will imitate the movement of a real athlete and is organized by the Hellenic Educational Robotics Organization (Hellenic Educational Robotics Organization), in collaboration with the Region of Crete, the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food and the Development Authority of Heraklion.

As the president of the Hellenic Educational Robotics Organization (Hellenic Educational Robotics Organization), Manos Velidakis, told APE-MBE, this is a challenge with particularities and an increased level of mechatronic perception that is required for each participating team to respond to such a challenge .

In the Olympiad there will be participation of robot athletes in sports such as marathon, obstacle course, rally, football, wrestling, weightlifting, rowing, archery, shot put, drone, relay, etc. while, according to Mr. Velidakis, the appeal to Olympic spirit and its combination with robotics and innovation, “we think it gives our country the necessary modern “note” that the times demand to attract the global becoming of robotics”.

The goal of the event is to attract the best teams from the world map. “The variety in sports, the impartial treatment of all participants, the Greek and especially the Cretan hospitality, the Olympic spirit, the noble rivalry, the international complex of organizers and competitors and many other key points are inviolable conditions for the organization” .

This year’s event hosts approximately 3,500 competitors from 36 countries, with the number increased from last year by approximately 50%, as stated by the president of the Hellenic Educational Robotics Organization, who added that through the possibility of online participation in certain categories, the number of the participating sites reaches 44. “The largest shipments come from Egypt, Turkey, Romania, South Korea, Brazil, Cyprus, etc. countries, which in fact, in order to choose their best representatives, held national competitions”.

As part of this year’s event, tomorrow at the site where the Robotics Olympiad is organized, with the cooperation and support of the Region of Crete, will host “Sophia”, the famous humanoid artificial intelligence robot that can imitate human behavior. It is about Sophia, who among the more than 20 languages ​​she speaks, also includes Greek and who is expected with great joy to be in Crete for the first time, as Mr. Velidakis said, with the regional governor Stavros Arnautakis, explaining that the choice to locate Sophia in Crete is directly linked to highlighting elements of the island, such as culture.

“We will host Sophia in Crete, in accordance with what Cretan hospitality dictates” the regional governor of Crete Stavros Arnautakis told APE-MBE, who emphasized that from the stay and the contacts Sophia will have “it is important to see what she knows about the long-standing culture of our country, as this is also the goal. In and through Sophia to further highlight our culture and the rare wealth of Crete, which is visited by millions of people every year.”

Sophia, as mentioned by the president of the Greek Educational Robotics Organization HERO, is already in our country and “according to very authoritative sources, she is rapidly learning more and more about our country”. Regarding tomorrow’s program of her stay at the Robotics Olympiad, Mr. Velidakis emphasized that it is quite stressful, because the demand of the world to be with her is unrepeatable.

“We are sure that the best solutions will be found so that most people can get to know this unique creation. Her love and impatience to be charged with Cretan air has already been transferred to the organization that is feverishly preparing the ground for her reception” he added.

Regarding the competition this year, as Manos Velidakis said, “with the commendable and effective involvement of the Development Companies of the entire Region, but with the noticeably dynamic involvement of the Development Heraklion, this year the competition raises the bar of the organization as a visitor has the possibility to watch both the competitive part and a multitude of parallel actions” noting that throughout the four days, exhibitions of home crafts, local products and innovation will be held in the area.

According to the program, lectures and presentations by renowned speakers have been added on topics related to technologies, robotics, innovation, women’s empowerment in these sectors and their involvement with the local agricultural economy, while many workshops will be held in various hours and days with recipients young and old.

The Hellenic Educational Robotics Organization (Hellenic Educational Robotics Organization) is a Non-Profit Civil Society, which aims to defend, disseminate, develop and research issues related to educational robotics, sports robotics and in general the positive sciences and of engineering sciences, programming and combinatory problem-solving thinking. The core consists of people with a passion for passing on knowledge and experience to young people, while at the same time they are specialized executives both in the field of education and in the field of the country’s industry. We should emphasize that the executives work voluntarily, while they are supported by a national and international network of partners, who promote the organization’s work.