Robofest, one of the largest technology festivals for young people in the world, is being held these days in online format. Its participants have developed solutions which could be used soon in the automotive, agricultural and aviation industries.
For example, a team of students from Don State Technical University has presented a robotic manipulator, which is considered for use by Krasnodar International Airport in a new terminal. The robot — which was developed during the festival — helps automate the luggage picking and loading process; minimize human error, luggage loss and damage; and reduce the time required to load and unload aircraft.
Progress Agro, an agricultural holding, has expressed interest in a project developed by a student team from Rostov. The winners of the agro-industrial division presented an unmanned aerial vehicle for monitoring and analysing the vegetative state of plants. Scaling up and implementation of this project at the agricultural holding’s facilities will help improve control of the growing process, and significantly increase product yields and quality.
GAZ Group experts will test a robotic climate control system for buses presented by a team from Volgograd and an automatic mobile platform for cargo transportation developed by Rostov-based team WayBot Logistic.
The festival also featured EcoNet competitions where participants focused on automating separate waste collection.
This year’s edition of Robofest is being held online for the first time. A competition area has been set up in Moscow, with participants from all over Russia connecting to take part remotely. The winning projects will be mentored and implemented by leading Russian corporates.
Since 2009, the festival has become a major scientific and practical forum for the next generation of Russian scientists and inventors. More than 100,000 schoolchildren have taken part, with one in three going on to study at Moscow State University, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, MIFI and other leading technical universities.
Robofest is an initiative of Volnoe Delo, a foundation for social innovation created by billionaire Oleg Deripaska.
