At Robot Challenge 2016, nine students from the Tecnológico Nacional de México (TecNM) took home the most medals at the international, two-day competition held in Vienna, Austria. The students won 9 medals – two gold, four silver, and three bronze.
El Universal reports this competition marked the school’s first (and second) gold. Robot XF-11 helped them clinch the top spot in the Line Follower Enhanced competition. Here, their robot finished a course in the shortest amount of time. Robot Tom made them victorious in the Micro Sumo contest, which is exactly as it sounds – two robots trying to knock each other out of bounds. Their competitors came from 56 different countries, including Turkey, Poland, and Hungary.
Jesús Calva Díaz called the competition tough, but said they didn’t face any setbacks, like broken equipment, from traveling. “We came and we conquered,” said Cristóbal de Jesús, who was part of the Micro Sumo team.
Two of the students visited Once Noticias to talk about their exciting win. They were joined by two humanoid robots, who were adorned with tiny Mexican flags, as well as their mentor Jorge Dominguez Hernandez. Jorge praised their skills, and said they had previously placed at other international competitions. However, he called Robot Challenge one of the most distinguished in the field.
To learn more about their challenges, check out their interview with Once Noticias below: