They played soccer - on two legs, on wheels or virtually-, they danced with their young supervisors or carried out simple manual tasks in a specifically staged apartment: From 29th June to 5th July, at the 'RoboCup 2009', mechanical soccer players, household helpers and 'Dancing Stars' from all over the world took the regional capital of Styria by storm. A total of 2,300 participants from 44 nations arrived to compete in several disciplines, thrilling thousands of visitors in the process. Organizer Hans Sünkel, Rector of the Graz University of Technology, found the event to be a 'complete success' after the award ceremony yesterday.
Winners as far as the eye can see: For a week, the participants of RoboCup 2009 eagerly anticipated the competitions, discussed success strategies with their peers and attended high-profile scientific presentations. They fascinated audiences with the exciting games their mechanical athletes were playing and gave diverse insights into the world of technology. The event gave way to valuable impulses for training and research, which will also benefit the economy. Furthermore, the RoboCup positively affected tourism, resulting in a considerable volume of overnight stays
Complete success
"The Austrian premiere of the RoboCup was a complete success", the Rector of the Graz University of Technology Hans Sünkel concludes, whose university brought the biggest robotics event in the world to Graz. "The RoboCup makes technology accessible and places the benefits of scientific developments in the spotlight", Sünkel welcomes the playful approach to complex scientific subjects.
Winners from all over the world
At the award ceremony, participants from 22 nations were awarded cups. The major winners in the RoboCup 2009 evaluation were teams from Germany and Japan, achieving great results in both the senior and the junior competitions.
Contact:
Alice Senarclens de Grancy
Press officer
Email alice.grancy@tugraz.at
Tel 0316 873 6006
Mobil 0664 60 873 6006
http://www.presse.tugraz.at/pressemitteilungen/2009/results.pdf All results
http://www.presse.tugraz.at/gallery.htm#RoboCup2009 Pictures free of charge
Final games at RoboCup 2009
Source: TU Graz/Lunghammer
Smiling faces at the award ceremony
Source: TU Graz/Lunghammer
Criteria of this press release:
Electrical engineering, Energy, Information technology, Mechanical engineering, Social studies
transregional, national
Research projects, Research results
English

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