"Robotics Days 2023" were held at the Technical University - Sofia

On April 28th and 29th, 2023, the national competition "Robotics Days 2023" was held at the Technical University – Sofia. The competition was opened by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Lidia Galbova, Deputy Rector for Scientific and Applied Activities, with the words: "Dear participants of 'Robotics Days', on behalf of the Rector and the entire academic leadership, I welcome you to the premises of the Technical University – Sofia and express my gratitude to the organizers of the competition - the Robotics Club at TU – Sofia. The Robotics Club is the oldest student club in our university, established more than 22 years ago, providing an opportunity for young talents from across the country to showcase their skills in the field of robotics. The Technical University – Sofia has always supported this initiative, continues to support young people through Innovation Hubs for students and schoolchildren, encouraging them to participate in research activities and develop innovative projects. I wish you to follow your dreams and realize your ideas, success to all teams and participants!"

In his address to the participants, Denis Ismetov, Chairman of the Robotics Club, stated: "In this highly dynamic and technological world, Robotics Days is not just a competition where enthusiasts from all over Bulgaria gather to compete in various categories, but it is a place where contacts are exchanged, friendships are formed, ideas are shared, new things emerge, and we all become part of this new technological society of Bulgaria, which should be the main driving force of the country. Many of us have witnessed how, in an exceptionally short time over the last 10 years, various robots, manipulators, smart home devices, artificial intelligence, and intelligent systems have entered our daily lives. Therefore, we from the Robotics Club, together with the Technical University – Sofia, are obliged to support these initiatives and encourage future engineers by providing a platform for expression and creating a suitable environment. It is a great honor for us that a large number of companies and partners support our endeavor, demonstrating that the business-university-school connection exists and is alive."

The opening was attended by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Vesla Karlova – Sergieva, Deputy Dean for Educational Activities and Human Resources Development; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Vladislav Slavov, Deputy Dean for Scientific, Research Activities and International Integration; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Vladimir Hristov, Head of the Department "Automation of Electric Drives"; faculty members; and students.

The competition featured over 85 teams with more than 140 participants from 16 cities in Bulgaria, as well as over 30 mentors and team leaders from the following cities: Burgas, Varna, Gabrovo, Gorna Oryakhovitsa, Dimitrovgrad, Dobrich, Kyustendil, Lovech, Pernik, Pleven, Plovdiv, Panagyurishte, Ruse, Sofia, Shumen, and Yambol.

In this year's competition, teams participated in the following competitive

categories:

• Line following
• 3D maze
• Mini Sumo
• LEGO Line Following
• Free Style - Hardware and Software Projects

Robotics Days is a traditional initiative of the Robotics Club at TU - Sofia, which has been held since 2001. The goal of the event is to encourage and motivate the development of robotics and innovation in the field of technical sciences and technologies in Bulgaria. The initiative includes workshops and competitions aimed at students, schoolchildren, and people with interests in technical fields.

The Robotics Club at TU - Sofia is the creator and organizer of this unique event, both for the university and for all of Bulgaria. The Robotics Club is a place where enthusiasts from various specialties and interests across the entire university, and even people outside of it, come together. The club started its activities as a small departmental club under the Robotics section of the Department of "Automation of Electric Drives" at the Faculty of Automation, and later, with the aim of expanding its activities throughout the university, it moved to the Student Council of TU - Sofia. The club currently has over 25 active members, and its activities are related, among other club activities, to:

● Participation in national and international competitions;

● Popularizing activities related to robotics, electronics, automation, 3D modeling, and artificial intelligence;

● Organizing events, workshops, seminars, and others;

● Working on projects with companies;

"Robotics Days 2023" was implemented with the support of: Aurubis Bulgaria, UNIBERG, Mondelez International, Liebherr, Centillion, Bosch Engineering Center Sofia, FESTO, BALKANTEL, Coherent Solutions, Ekhnaton Bulgaria and ErElement.

Media partners of the event were: DevStyleR, BNR Sofia, Robotics-Bulgaria.com, LIDER.BG, Engineer.BG and many other national media.

WINNERS OF „ROBOTICS DAYS '23“

Category "Line Tracking"

1st place (Junior Age Group) - Team "Automatik", Blagoevgrad

2nd place (Junior Age Group) - Team "Mechano 1", Burgas

3rd place (Junior Age Group) - Team "RoboRebels", Blagoevgrad

Special Award (Senior age group) - team "TU Plovdiv Robotics",

Plovdiv

Category "LEGO Line Following"

1st place (Junior age group) - team "Goose Soft", Burgas

2nd place (Junior age group) - team "MEHANO 2", Burgas

3rd place (Junior age group) - team “RoboELS”, city of Ruse

Category “Mini Simo”

1st place (Junior age group) - team “Burgas United”, city of Burgas

2nd place (Junior age group) - team “Mehano 1”, city of Burgas

3rd place (Junior age group) - team “Tech Wolfs”, city of Burgas

Category "3D Maze"

1st place (Junior age group) - team "3DPGE", Varna

2nd place (Junior age group) - team "Mekano 1", Burgas

3rd place (Junior age group) - team "RoboDrin", Kyustendil

Special Award (Senior age group) - Project "Vladoras", city.

Panagyurishte

Category "Free Style - Hardware Projects"

1st place (Junior age group) - Project “SHARO - the four-legged”

forest patrol, Sofia

2nd place (Junior age group) - Project “BEAR - Budget Dynamics”, city.

Sofia

3rd place (Junior age group) - Project “Ultrasonic Levitation”, city

Dobrich

1st place (Senior age group) - Project “Wall-E, city Sofia

2nd place (Senior age group) - Project “PanQuad beta (Pancho), city

Plovdiv

3rd place (Senior age group) - Project “Intelligent Staircase

Lighting, Pravets

Category “Free Style - Software Projects”

1st place (Junior age group) - Project “ReportR”, Burgas

2nd place (Junior age group) - Project “Frostless”, Shumen

3rd place (Junior age group) - Project “Harmony”, Sofia

SPECIAL AWARDS

Special award of the Robotics Club at TU-Sofia - team “PTG Ivan

Rajnov”, Yambol and team “MG Robo Ground”, Plovdiv

Special award of “Aurubis Bulgaria” - Project "No Freezing", city.

Shumen

Special Award from FESTO Manufacturing - Project “Wall-E”, Sofia

Special Award from "Sentilion" -

Special Award from "Mondelēz International" - Project "Ultrasonic"

Levitation”, Dobrich and “ReportR” project, Burgas

Special Award from “BOCH Engineering Center Sofia” - Project

“Omniplantus”, Sofia, and project “Efficient Extraction for Green Energy and

Its Storage”, Sofia

Special Award from “LIEBHERR - HAUSGERAETE MARITSA” - team

“Beep-boop 101”, Sofia

Special Award from “Balkantel” - Project "BEAR - Budget Dynamics", Sofia

and project "SHARO - the four-legged forest patrol", Sofia

Special Award from "Echnaton Bulgaria" - Project "SHARO - the four-legged

forest patrol", Sofia and project "ACS Phoenix", Sofia

Special Awards from the media "Robotics-Bulgaria.com":

"Special Award from Robotics-Bulgaria.com" - Team "RoboCubes++", Sofia

Dobrich

Certificate "Most Innovative Idea" - Team “UwUEngineers”, Shumen

Certificate "Young Innovator in Robotics" - Project “WE