"My project was a prototype of a SCARA-type robot with a slightly different kinematic chain than what is commonly used in industry. My work involved 3D printing and modeling the entire structure, wiring the control cabinet—so designing the electrical installation—and programming the control unit," described Pavel Košnar, who will take his school graduation exam in the spring. "I programmed inverse kinematics into the control software, so we can give the robot predefined points to which it sets its arm. It can thus, for example, transfer a load," explained the competition winner. He added that the robot is currently at a stage where it can be used for teaching. "Personally, I learned several basic types of motion optimization on it. If I were to continue developing it, it would definitely open the door to new possibilities," Košnar added, noting that he spent hundreds of hours—possibly over a thousand—preparing the robot. According to him, he has been interested in robotic systems and automation since childhood. Pavel Košnar also received an award from the Czechoslovak Section of IEEE, in which the finalists themselves selected the most interesting presented project.
Second place went to Václav Polák from the Secondary Technical School of Electrical Engineering and Grammar School V Úžlabině. "My project is a CU plotter, which is essentially a plotter designed to make drawing printed circuit boards easier under home conditions. The project should help home hobbyists with PCB prototyping," Polák explained. "In terms of construction, it’s more or less finished, but I’m still finalizing my own electronics. I’ve been working on it since November, and now I have it as my graduation project, so I thought—why not take advantage of it when it’s at this stage," summarized the awarded student, who is also in his final year and plans to study at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at CTU. In fact, all finalists of the Electrical Engineering Olympiad gain the opportunity to enroll at FEL ČVUT without entrance exams.
Third place went to Eduard Šimon, a student at the Žďár nad Sázavou Grammar School. "My project is called Aether, and it’s a web application that allows users to display air traffic in a 3D environment," Šimon explained. He noted that he was inspired to work on it precisely by the opportunity to participate in the Electrotechnical Olympiad. Preparing the application to its current stage took him about three months. “I came up with the idea of combining Flight Radar with augmented reality technologies,” the student explained, adding: “The application is now in a version that is usable for an ordinary user, but I would still like to improve it so that it can really handle the load of a larger number of users than the current ten.”
Projects Are Getting Better Every Year
“We build the competition in the shape of a pyramid,” noted Prof. Dušan Maga from the Department of Telecommunications Engineering at FEE CTU, who is the main organizer of the Olympiad. "First and foremost, we want to reach a wide range of interested students, which we have succeeded in doing. We had more than 500 people in the first round, which is a great success. About 10 percent of the students who participate in the first round advance to the second round. We received around 50 presentations, from which the jury then selected the best ones. And it’s getting harder and harder," Prof. Maga said.
The projects are evaluated by a jury composed of representatives from both academia and industry. What are the evaluation criteria?
"We usually try to base it on whether the project the student submits has some form of real implementation—whether they have actually brought it to a stage that is usable for practical deployment. And we are, of course, happy to support such work, because many of them have an impact either in industry or in assistive technologies, which is one of the areas we also try to support in this way," said the chairman of the jury, Dr. Jaromír Hrad, who also works at the Department of Telecommunications Engineering. "During the final itself, it’s a tough nut to crack. Trying to choose a project that really stands out from works that are getting better every year is difficult. So the awards for the top three places are often very close," the expert emphasized. "It’s clear that students are already coming into contact with modern technologies at secondary schools—technologies that are manageable for them—and that they are able to put together something that actually works. I almost don’t even dare to imagine what these people will be capable of designing and constructing once they become graduate engineers,” Dr. Hrad concluded.
Photo Credit: Petr Neugebauer
