Robot Boris visits Armenian school of mathematics and physics

PanARMENIAN.Net - Yerevan hosted the opening ceremony of Bal Robotov (Ball of Robots) exhibition Tuesday, December 8. For the first time in Armenia, Robots Inc. (Russia) presents the Ameriabank-initiated project, featuring the world’s most famous robots, in the country’s capital.

Boris, one of the robots showcased at the exhibition, visited on Friday, December 18 the Yerevan-based A. Shahinyan school of mathematics and physics.

The Russia-made robot's visit was a huge surprise for the schoolchildren who had a good time with the walking and talking robot.

At the event, school headmaster Haykaz Navasardyan noted that Ameriabank's initiative served a useful purpose, with the children getting into robotics and broadening their minds.

“Our school has been hosting two groups of robotics for three years now,” Navasardyan said. “We have developed three smaller robots ourselves that perform several functions. This initiative will hopefully serve as an impetus for our children and teachers, boosting robotics development in our school,” the headmaster said.

Also, Navasardyan stated that some 20 students currently study in the two groups.

According to one of the students, the robot’s visit stirred huge interest among the children. “I wasn’t interested in robotics before, but now I am,” Maria Harutyunyan told PanARMENIAN.Net

The first Ball of Robots was held in Moscow in 2014 to become the most successful exhibition project in Russia. The subsequent country tour was a success in Sochi, Krasnodar, St. Petersburg, Minsk and Yekaterinburg.

Now, Yerevan took up the baton to host the exhibition from December 9 to January 10, 2016 (closed days: December 31 and January 01). Held in Yerevan Mall, the exhibit envisages special discount rates for children: AMD 2200 on weekdays and AMD 3300 on weekends. Meanwhile, tickets for adults will cost AMD 2900 and AMD 3900 respectively. Special rates for group school tours are also available.

The event features the latest developments of engineering, enabling interaction with robots from all over the world, some of which perfectly incorporate the latest trends in robotics, artificial intelligence and robot teaching systems. Special attention is paid to teaching at all levels, from selection of robots to excursions.

The exhibition features over 20 interactive robots from various countries as well as the best of Armenian robotics.

Other entertainments include the dancing robot show, quadcopter zone, robolab, Lego brainstorming/robot building sessions, robot programming and robomarket.

The celebrated RoboThespian – a life-sized humanoid and one of the world’s most cutting-edge and emotional robots will be among the exhibits. RoboThespian can interact with humans, imitate their movements, sing, dance, laugh, cry and even recite Shakespeare, thanks to which it has already been featured in quite a few modern stage plays. RoboThespian even performed onstage at the CeBit opening ceremony in 2014 in front of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron.