Iranian tech prodigies battle it out with robots

Two machines resembling robotic vacuum cleaners sped round a hoop colliding, taking pictures sparks and catching hearth, as Iranian engineering college students watched from behind plexiglass.

The dramatic conflict was simply one in every of many alternatives for opponents to go head-to-head on the nation’s Tech Olympics, to find out the way forward for its engineering abilities.

Iran aspires to change into a key regional participant in rising applied sciences, regardless of a long time of worldwide sanctions which have stifled its growth.

The fields at this 12 months’s competitors included robotic battles, programming, synthetic intelligence, in addition to drones, cybersecurity and linked units.

Just a few hours earlier than his occasion, Alireza Hosseini put the ultimate touches on fight robotic Arash—a rudimentary machine of wires and wheels with out the looks of a humanoid.

“What’s extra necessary than the design is the operator,” the 21-year-old college scholar advised AFP, referring to the one that remotely controls the robotic.

“The design solely represents a 3rd of the work, however the operator decides how and the place the robotic assaults,” mentioned Hosseini, from Kerman in southern Iran.

Hosseini mentioned his staff of scholars in electrical engineering, electronics, pc science, mechanical engineering and design had been topped Iran’s robotics champion thrice.

Launched final 12 months on the authorities’s initiative, the Tech Olympics function a expertise pool for firms in search of potential recruits.

The coach of 1 staff of under-18s appeared considerably anxious earlier than the beginning of the competitors.

“Sadly, we began late, and the robotic is not fairly prepared but,” mentioned Mr. Azizi, who didn’t give his first identify.

Iran’s Silicon Valley

Three referees have been tasked with judging the robotic fights, similar to in wrestling, a sport at which Iran excels.

The collisions between machines produce sparks, and typically even balls of fireplace. Victory goes to the robotic that disables its opponent.

The Tech Olympics happen on the outskirts of the capital Tehran, on the Pardis Know-how Park—nicknamed Iran’s Silicon Valley—the place dozens of cutting-edge firms are situated.

The organizers boast that they obtained greater than 10,000 functions for the competitors, which was whittled all the way down to 1,000 spots within the elimination rounds.

Just a few international groups additionally participated. Iranian media talked about greater than a dozen nations starting from neighboring Iraq to far-away Romania.

Iran has invested sizable sums in rising applied sciences, together with robotics, with dozens of firms utilizing them for quite a lot of functions.

In September, the nation unveiled its first AI-powered robotic, able to precisely answering a variety of authorized questions, based on native media.

The army has additionally harnessed these applied sciences, together with for its Aria fight robotic, which makes use of AI to detect obstacles and transfer autonomously and was unveiled in September.

In 2021, veterinarians in Iran carried out the first-ever distant surgical procedure on a canine utilizing Sina, a surgical robotic totally designed and manufactured domestically.

The Tech Olympics goals to arrange college students for real-world conditions.

Mohammad-Javad Asadolahi, a 21-year-old learning mechanical engineering at college, mentioned he and his classmates designed a drone—able to taking off robotically and following a set trajectory—from scratch utilizing “60 to 70% Iranian know-how”.

“Our foremost issue was the shortage of academic assets” in English and Persian, he mentioned.

However “because of our information and analysis, we have now steadily succeeded.”

© 2025 AFP