Robocon will test university teams' engineering mettle
The worlds of robotics and romance will collide this month when teams of university students put a modern twist on an ancient love story.
The teams will use their robots to re-enact the legend of two Korean lovers, Gyeonwoo and Jiknyeo, who were banished to the opposite ends of the Milky Way.
According to the story, magpies and crows took pity on the two lovers and formed a bridge across the stars with their bodies, allowing them to reunite.
In the Robocon 2004 Hong Kong contest next Thursday, competing robots will race to clear an obstacle field, build a bridge and carry a 2.3kg object representing Gyeonwoo across the bridge to meet Jiknyeo.
Each team will use a remote-controlled and an automated robot to clear the field, then the automated robot alone will make the trip over the bridge.
The teams will comprise local university students and their instructors.