Bangladesh impresses at World Robot Olympiad 2021

World Robot Olympiad (WRO) is an international robotics competition organised every year in over 85 countries around the globe. Hosted by the non-profit organisation World Robot Olympiad Association (WROA), this contest is divided into several categories for students ranging from 8 to 19 years old. At WRO 2021, held online this year, Bangladesh placed top spots in two different categories.

Team Prodigy, consisting of Md Sazzad Islam and Tausif Samin, ranked 10th in the world ranking of the 'Future Engineers' category. Team Powerium, consisting of Tanjim Zaman Khan, Md Ashrafuzzaman Fuad and Muhammad Abrar Zawad, ranked 16th internationally in 'Open Category (Senior)'.

For the 'Future Engineers' category, the task was to build an autonomous robot, based on current automobile technology, that could drive around a track with the help of a steering device. Participants of 'Open Category' could build anything that followed the theme of WRO, which this year was building a 'Powerbot' to advocate energy sustainability.

According to WRO rules, every team that participates in the international round is required to clear a national round hosted by a local association. This year, Bangladesh Open Source Network (BdOSN), a non-profit organisation, hosted the national competition, where around 22 teams participated. Team Prodigy and Team Powerium won the national round and were eventually selected for this year's international competition.