Lego’s RescueBots contest builds imaginations at CIT

They may not be RoboCop or R2-D2, but 80 students and their vocal fans from 20 schools will be hoping that their designs will win the Lego Robot Competition tonight.

“RescueBots” is the theme of this year’s contest, which is promoted by the Cork Electronics Industry Association and takes place at Cork Institute of Technology. Second-year, second-level students are challenged to make their robots navigate a virtual “underwater” maze to locate a vessel in distress. The robots that complete the task in the fastest time will be the winners.

While Deirdre de Bhailís of CEIA wouldn’t quite say that robots were taking over schools, artificial intelligence is definitely infiltrating the classrooms, judging by the interest in the competition.