The Indonesian Robot Contest (KRI) is a design and engineering competition in the field of robotics which is held every year. The 2020 KRI was organized by the National Achievement Center, Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia online with the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) appointed as the host of the event. Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta participated in two competition categories, namely the Indonesian Fire Fighting Robot Contest (KRPAI), and the Indonesian Wheeled Football Robot Contest (KRSBI), which is currently in the preliminary stage at the regional level.
KRI 2020 is entering its 18th year since it was first held in 2003, with this year being attended by 183 participants from various universities in Indonesia. However, KRI 2020 must be held online, considering that the world, especially Indonesia, is still not free from the Covid-19 pandemic. The participants must provide their own laboratory or arena as a place to show their robots to be broadcast online.
Vice Rector for Student Affairs and AIK Prof. Hilman Latief Ph.D., when interviewed at the UMY Central Campus Sports Building while directly observing the KRI 2020 competition activities, said that the campus strongly supports the UMY team to excel at KRI 2020. “We have a strong commitment to encourage students to excel in their fields. one of them is by participating in the Indonesian Robot Contest. In the past several years we have participated in robotic competitions organized by the Ministry of Education and Culture. For this year, because of the pandemic, participants are required to provide their own arena to show their robotic actions, so we provided this facility to them, “he said.
KRI Online 2020 was still held in stages starting with Regional Level Contests which were held in 2 (two) regions. Region I covers western Indonesia and Region II covers eastern Indonesia. UMY is included in Region 2, whose agenda starts on October 9-13, 2020. A number of the best teams at the Regional Level Contest will be invited to participate in the 2020 National Level Indonesian Robot Contest which will be held on November 16-22.
Meanwhile, Dr. (cand.) Muhamad Yusvin Mustar, S.T., M.Eng. UMY Electrical Engineering lecturer and the Supervisor for the UMY KRI team hoped that this competition would be the right place for students to improve their abilities, especially in the field of Electrical Engineering. “By participating in a prestigious event such as KRI we can show our student’s credibility, and also realize their interests and talents in the field of Electrical Engineering. Because if they can become national champions, KRI will be able to take them to the United States and Germany to represent Indonesia,” he said. (Hbb)
