The BKZ team from the Da Nang Polytechnic University passed 28 teams from 14 universities to take first prize in a landmine-disarming robot contest on January 29-30 in HCM City.  

A team from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry, Heat 3, and Can Tho University’s Embot-Strike won the second and the third prizes. Five other teams won the consolation prizes.

Held by the HCM City Mechanics Association and the Technology Center for Bomb and Mine Disposa, the competition was themed an “All-terrain robot”. The mission for contestants was to design a robot that could remotely analyze terrain, move precisely and flexibly, and overcome all obstacles in moving toward bomb and mine locations.

The contest offered young people, especially students and engineers, a chance to show off creative talents while contributing to the development of bomb-disarming technology. The organizers will fund the winning teams to perfect their products in the future.

Bombs and landmines cover an area of around 6.6 million hectares in Vietnam, accounting for 20 percent of the total area of the country. Ordnance-disarming efforts are carried out on just 20,000 hectares per year. Experts said that it will take 300 years to clear all of Vietnam’s bombs and landmines.