Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with Plaisiobots, the highschool student team that won the gold medal at the International Robot Olympiad in December.
“My warmest congratulations for your success. I have always followed robotics’ competitions very closely and I would like to tell you that I am thrilled with the talent, the ingenuity and the interest demonstrated by all teams. When these teams distinguish themselves in international contests, it is even better. You make us all really proud,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis said, after personally welcoming the team to his office in Maximos Mansion.
The theme of the competition, which was held online, was the future of transportation. The Plaisiobots team, made up of 16-year old Christos Rentzis, 15-year old Iris Angelopoulou, 14-year old Vasiliki Iliadi and 13-year old Alkiviadis Kotsikopoulos, guided by coach Diana Voutirakou and assistant coach Iason Somoglou, designed, produced and programmed a robotic cane that makes it easier for the visually-impaired to move.
The cane, which has been designed for the outdoors, recognizes and locates obstacles, it protects the user’s head from objects and communicates with traffic lights for pedestrians to inform the user whether they are green or red. Furthermore, it features a tracking function that works through Bluetooth.
The team presented their creation to the Prime Minister, explaining that the device is equipped with sensors at strategic spots, which locate obstacles and send different, distinguishable vibrations to the handle, in order to warn the user.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis asked the team about its preparation for the Olympiad, how the competition unfolded and how they came up with the idea for the “smart” cane. The students explained that they were inspired by the image of a visually-impared woman who had trouble using a crosswalk because of parked vehicles. They later conducted market research, in order to better comprehend the needs of potential users.
“It is interesting that you carried out market research,” the Prime Minister said. “The point is that technology needs to serve someone’s needs, to have users. What you are saying, the fact that this kind of notification can be more effective for people with visual impairments than an audio signal, is very interesting. This is impressive. The next step will be to file for a patent, get one and then move to production.”
Kyriakos Mitsotakis again congratulated the team for their idea and hard work, and shared an experience from his days as a university student. “For a business to succeed, technological innovation needs to be combined with a business dimension. As one of my university professors, who taught innovation, used to tell us, business success -especially when it comes to new firms- stems 10% from inspiration and 90% from perspiration.”
The International Robot Olympiad has taken place every year since 1999. More than 500 young participants took part in the 2020 contest, despite the strains caused by the pandemic.
The Plaisiobots team was formed at the initiative of the Plaisio corporation and is made up of children and relatives of the company’s employees.
