Montenegrin roboticists will present themselves tonight at the prestigious Games of the Future event in Abu Dhabi with a robot named Sparkplug, the creation of which took more than 200 hours of work.
The robot, made up of over 350 parts and weighing 107 kilograms, is the result of the team's knowledge and dedication, led by experienced roboticists as mentors. Nina Drakulic i Biljana Krivokapic who have always returned from similar competitions with medals. The performance is scheduled for 21 pm local time, or 18 pm Montenegrin time.
This year's edition of Games of the Future, an event that combines sports and esports, is giving space to robotics for the first time and is organizing a competition in this branch of technology as part of the event. This further confirms the growing popularity of this field among children and young people, so it is not surprising that competitions related to sports and e-sports are also turning to this discipline.
"Back in 2023, Montenegro Robotics launched an initiative in Montenegro with the aim of formally recognizing robotics as a sports discipline. This initiative has its deeper roots in the international context, because it was precisely that year, at the FIRST Global Challenge competition in Singapore, robotics was officially classified as a sports discipline. Today, just two years later, we are witnessing concrete evidence that robotics is increasingly connected to other physical activities, requiring teamwork, competitive spirit, endurance, reaction speed and strategic thinking. In this way, robotics is slowly but surely taking its deserved place in modern sports, combining technology, knowledge and physical engagement into a unique discipline of the future," Drakulić points out.
Sparkplug will enter the ring tonight, where he will attempt to outsmart and overcome the opposing robot in a limited time, confirming the strength, precision, and teamwork behind its creation.
"Although it looks like a classic robot fight, the essence of the competition is much more complex. The team's goal is to make the most durable and functional robot possible, but also to come up with smart strategies to incapacitate the opponent while at the same time preserving itself. The fight lasts only two minutes, during which the robot must remain in the ring, move and function, while strictly respecting the rules and fair play," explains Drakulić, adding that being creative in robotics today is a great challenge.
"Technology is advancing rapidly and competition is fierce. That's why the hardest part is bringing a new, innovative solution that makes a difference in the field," she adds.
The team, which arrived in Abu Dhabi at the invitation of the Montenegrin Electronic Sports Federation, consists of five competitors in addition to the mentors: Lazar Milicevic, Milos Milicevic, Armin Rebronja, Matija Popovic and Ivan Radovic", and working on this project was demanding, but extremely beautiful and inspiring," claims Drakulić.
"The competitors already have significant experience, as they achieved excellent results in previous international competitions. Although this is the first time we have competed in the robot battle format, we managed to meet all the technical and organizational requirements in a very short period of time and come fully prepared for the competition," Vijesti's interviewee is confident about her team, admitting that the biggest challenge during the preparations was providing adequate space for work, as well as the necessary equipment within a limited time frame.
"However, thanks to the strong will, team spirit and good coordination of the team, all these challenges were successfully overcome," says Drakulić with pride, who has countless medals in this discipline behind her, and hopes that her team will succeed in surpassing its opponents at the Games of the Future.
"Of course, we always have ambitions and believe in the team, because the results from previous years confirm that. However, at competitions like this, the most important thing for us is that the team shows knowledge, discipline and team spirit, and that the robot functions as we imagined it. If that brings a medal, we will be extremely proud, but regardless of the placement, this experience is extremely important to us and represents a big step forward for our team and for the development of robotics in Montenegro," concludes Drakulić.
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