World champion reception for young robots from the Hanover region

For the second time, a team from the Hannover Region-sponsoredRobertaRegioZentrumHannoverhas brought a world championship title in a robotics competition for schoolchildren to Hannover. A repeat of the 2019 success.

The pupils from the Hanover region prevailed against 33 international teams in the coronavirus-related virtual competition. But that's not all: the youngsters also won a runner-up title, a third place and a sixth place. The 57 pupils, aged between nine and 18, were ceremoniously welcomed in the VIP area of the HDI Arena on Thursday by Ulf-Birger Franz, Head of the Department of Economic Affairs, and Hannover 96 Managing Director Robert Schäfer.

Ulf-Birger Franz, Head of Economic Affairs for the Hannover Region, says:

"We are very proud to have a project like this at our site, to get young people from the region excited about the key technology of robotics and to introduce them to STEM professions."

In addition to the prestigious success of the world championship title, he sees the focus as being on setting the long-term course for the Hannover Region as a business location:

"Together with other robotics funding projects, such as the Robot Factory at Leibniz Universität Hannover or the Robonatives Initiative of the Robokind Foundation, the Roberta-RegioZentrum makes a significant contribution to promoting young STEM talent at the location. I am convinced that Hannover will secure its pioneering role as a top location for robotics training in the long term."

The success of the next generation of roboticists is no coincidence. The Hannover Region has been supporting the Roberta RegioZentrum Hannover since it was founded in 2013. In recent years, the number of participants in Roberta events has risen continuously and the courses are regularly fully booked. In addition, more and more teams have taken part in national and international robotics competitions in recent years.

In 2019, a team from the Roberta RegioZentrum Hannover brought a world championship title to the region for the first time. Then, as now, the showpiece discipline was the "Rescue Maze Simulation". In this category, the robot has to autonomously navigate a maze, search for letters and color codes on the walls and find its way back to its starting position at the end of the run.

The pupils from the Hanover region were runners-up in the "Soccer Simulation" category. In five sub-categories, the aim was to score more goals in a classic three-on-three duel with robots, among other things.

Robert Schäfer says:

"We at Hannover 96 are proud to be able to welcome and honor young world champions in the HDI Arena. Our arena is the perfect setting for this, as five tournament matches took place here at the 2006 World Cup - and Hannover was a great host back then. The Roberta RegioZentrum does great work and inspires young people from the region for a modern key technology such as robotics - the successes speak for themselves. They are the result of first-class teamwork. In this respect, the young robotics talents are also a role model for us in professional soccer."

A success that was celebrated in style in the HDI Arena on Thursday. The title itself is not the main focus, as Roberta founder Ina May emphasizes in conclusion:

"The Roberta project is about teaching robotics as a key technology of the future. And we want to do this from elementary school through vocational training to university. We want to encourage interest and motivation for computer science, technology and the natural sciences at an early stage."

A key point here is also to awaken girls' enthusiasm for STEM professions with a focus on robotics.

"Participation in competitions is a didactic measure in the overall concept to promote the motivation of the participants."

And there was another reason to celebrate: the Robokind Foundation's Robonatives initiative, which has been funded by the Hannover Region since 2019, was awarded the Lower Saxony Innovation Prize in the "Cooperation" category on Tuesday evening in collaboration with the roboterfabrik at Leibniz Universität Hannover, the Hannover Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Hannover Region.

On September 7, the festive evening event took place at the Landesmuseum Hannover, where the winning project was selected by Dr. Sander, Chairwoman of the Innovation Award. The initiative has been funded by the Hannover Region since December 2019 and focuses primarily on the key technologies of robotics in conjunction with artificial intelligence.

Ulf-Birger Franz, Head of Economic Affairs, says:

"We are proud to have supported this initiative from the very beginning. It's great that the fantastic progress has now been recognized with an award like this. We are already looking forward to the further implementation steps that will follow and are happy to continue supporting them on the part of the Hannover Region."

• Establishment of a regional "Robonatives" network byidentifying new locations for robot factories, raising awareness of artificial intelligence and robotics among regional companies and transferring knowledge to regional companies
• Research and development and testing of new curricula for robotics training in theLeine-Weser skilled workers alliance for the target groups of skilled workers, trainees and trainers, (vocational) pupils and students

Under the patronage of Lower Saxony's Minister of Economic Affairs, Dr. Bernd Althusmann, and Lower Saxony's Minister of Science, Björn Thümler, the Lower Saxony Innovation Award 2021 was presented for the fourth time. Three projects are nominated in each category, from which the jury selects the winning project. All nine nominees receive an image film and are presented at the award ceremony.
The first-placed projects in each category win 20,000 euros. Prizes are awarded to projects that address questions such as "What ideas are driving the country forward?" or "What does perfect cooperation look like?