The Make Your City Smart robotics competition is a well-established initiative organized by Asociația Măgurele Science Park in partnership with Robohub, starting in 2023.
This year marks its fourth edition, with registrations opening as early as March. The initiative aims to connect students with STEM fields and facilitate their exploration of robotics, in a European context where recent studies show that over 80% of jobs will require basic digital skills. At the same time, demand for specialists in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and engineering continues to grow rapidly. Meanwhile, there is a significant shortage of professionals trained in these areas, highlighting the importance of STEM education from an early age.
In this context, competitions like Make Your City Smart play a key role in preparing students for the jobs of the future, offering them the framework to develop practical skills, critical thinking, and interdisciplinary competencies essential in a constantly evolving digital economy.
About the registration process
Students registered by submitting a form in which they included either an essay or a drawing about how robots can help create a smart city. This year, more than 40 curious participants signed up, and those with the most creative and original entries were selected to take part in the training stage.
We chose this registration format to provide equal opportunities both for students passionate about drawing and those interested in writing, allowing each participant to express their talent and exercise their imagination.
The training session
To prepare the students, we organized the training session “at the home of the robots” at Robohub, where Ana Maria Stancu introduced them to the behind-the-scenes world of robotics and familiarized them with the robots in the lab.
Students discovered fascinating creations: Escu – a robot that greets and holds conversations using keyword-based algorithms, a robotic cat that purrs using a small motor, a smart chessboard that plays against users, and many other inventions that would have seemed like science fiction just a few years ago—but are very real today.
Participants learned what a LiDAR sensor is, how it works, and how to correctly program the components in their micro:bit kits. We are looking forward to seeing their final projects during the presentation, judging, and awards event, which will take place on May 12.
Creative challenge
We aim to continue this initiative, which is becoming increasingly popular among students, in the years to come. Until then, we invite you to try a short creativity and imagination exercise:
Imagine waking up in a fully automated city in the year 2040. Everything is managed by robots and intelligent systems: transportation, cleaning, safety, even parks and schools.
Write or draw your answer to the following question:
What would a typical day look like for you in such a city?
We hope this initiative will continue to inspire more and more students to explore the fascinating world of technology and develop their creativity through robotics. If you’d like to learn more about ongoing activities and projects, we invite you to explore the Robohub community and the resources it offers to young enthusiasts.
As Stephen Hawking once said:
“Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.”
In a world where robots and technology evolve rapidly, the ability to learn, create, and innovate will always make the difference.
