President Milanović Welcomes Award-Winning Students from the European RoboCupJunior Competition
The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović welcomed students and their mentors to the Office of the President today, recognizing their outstanding performance at this year’s European RoboCupJunior competition, held from 13-16 June in Hanover, Germany. The young Croatian roboticists achieved remarkable results, winning four first places, one second place, and four third places, totalling nine medals. Additionally, they received three special awards for the best poster, best technical solution, and best special solution.
The President of the Republic congratulated all the participants of the competition, especially the award winners, who then presented their award-winning projects to him. Additionally, the robot football players who won the gold medal demonstrated their skills by “playing” football in the Office of the President. These two robot football players, equipped with cameras and sensors to track the ball, took two years to develop and are entirely Croatian designs, as their creators proudly noted.
At the meeting, mentors led by Željko Posavec informed President Milanović about the competition, highlighting the achievements and successes of the awarded students. They explained that this year’s robotics competition was the fifth edition, featuring over 400 competitors organized into 140 teams from 21 European countries. Young roboticists from various parts of Croatia, including Bol, Otočac, Karlovac, Koprivnica, Varaždin, and Zagreb, represented the country. The mentors emphasized that the competition allows participants to expand and deepen their knowledge of robotics trends and development each year. However, they also mentioned that they lack the financial resources to build large robots, so they focus on creating smaller ones.
RoboCupJunior is a project-oriented educational programme designed for students up to 19 years old. It aims to expand their knowledge in a workshop environment, stimulating curiosity and bridging the gap with technology. The programme emphasizes collective problem-solving, leveraging diverse skills and knowledge. The competition features three main challenges: rescue, football, and stage dancing. In the “rescue” challenge, robots tackle problems and navigate obstacles within a simulated disaster scenario. In the “football” challenge, autonomous robots compete by mimicking football gameplay. The “stage dancing” challenge showcases robots in costumes, dancing or interacting with people.
In addition to mentor Željko Posavec, the meeting was attended by student mentors Nina Ređep, Ivica Kolarić, Ivan Kolarić, Jelka Hrnjić, Marko Pongrac, Marija Bencun, Boris Tonc, Maja Treščec, Ana Cvitanić, Lucija Špacal, Ana Obradović, and Željko Stanković Šprajc. Competitors Juraj Kolarić, Karla Klepež, Jelena Grozdanić, Ivan Perko, Marin Majdandžić, David Pongrac, Luka Kolarić, Marin Rođak, Dorian Panić, Bruno Maretić, Nino Petek, Jan Ridžak, Sven Ridžak, Vinka Frištek, Barbara Prutki, Patricija Radiković, Leon Rođak, Petar Kukec, Filip Melnjak, Jan Vašak, Franko Prikratki, David Županić, Jurica Ceglec, Gregor Klarić, Marija Oštrkapa, Ivan Kišćek, Ena Ređep, Tia Sudec, Zara Jakšić, Eva Jakšić, Celina Marčić, Miriam Cvitanić, Maksim Stanković Šprajc, Oskar Stanković Šprajc, Leon Tonc, Matija Novak, Andrija Novak, Nikola Novak, Gabrijel Kraljić, and Nikša Vaupotić, along with their parents, were also present.
President Milanović was accompanied by Jadranka Žarković, Adviser to the President of the Republic for Education.
FOTO: Ured predsjednika Republike Hrvatske / Tomislav Bušljeta