The online press conference/official presentation of the Robot “ΖΩΗΒΟΤ” was held by the Association of Parents and Guardians of the Municipality of Chalkidona, Thessaloniki, the Eugenides Foundation and the National Centre for Research and Technological Development of CERTH/ITI (Informatics and Telematics Institute).
ΖΩΗΒΟΤ (ΖΩΗ is a greek name that means life), is a robot created in Greece and aims to bring – in a smart way – the pupils of Primary Schools in contact with Robotics and Programming. It was constructed by CERTH/ ITI and is a donation of the Eugenides Foundation to the Association of Parents and Guardians of the Municipality of Chalkidona, Thessaloniki.
The press conference was attended with greetings by: Zetta Makri, Deputy Minister of Education, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, Regional Governor of Central Macedonia, Angelos Charisteas, Deputy Regional Governor of Digital Governance of Central Macedonia, Dimitris Tzovaras, President Board of Directors of CSR / Researcher A’ and Dimosthenis Ioannidis, Researcher C’/CSR/ITI.
Presenting ΖΩΗΒΟΤ, Mrs. Stella Valsamaki, President of the Association of Parents of Primary &secondary education of the Municipality of Chalkidon, Prefecture of Thessaloniki, stressed that “educational robotics, based on the principles of constructivism, is a modern educational tool, which can bring multiple benefits to the learning process. One of these benefits is the development of the learning motivations of those involved in the learning process. The incentives are enhanced, through active participation and cooperation, in activities that concern authentic problems and are of interest to those involved.
He went on to say that “in this context our Union had the idea for the creation of a robot that will visit our Primary Schools and on the occasion of a current issue (currently COVID-19)interact with children and bring them into a first contact with robotics and programming. This idea was embraced by the Eugenides Foundation, contributing to its realization with the relevant donation. The robot, ΖΩΗΒΟΤ as we named it, was created entirely in Greece, by the National Center for Research and Technological Development CERTH/ITI, in Thessaloniki.
As Mrs. Valsamaki mentioned, “ΖΩΗΒΟΤ will visit Primary Schools – primarily of the Municipality and not only. The team of the Association of Parents of Primary and Secondary Education of the Municipality of Chalkidona will visit the schools together with ΖΩΗΒΟΤ and so the robot will interact with the children and inform them about the measures we all need to take in order to keep COVID-19 as far away from us as possible. On the occasion of this briefing, children will come into contact with a robot for the first time.
At the same time, students will have the opportunity to watch through video an introductory educational program for acquaintance with robotics, which was created exclusively for ΖΩΗΒΟΤ by the Science and Technology Center of the Eugenides Foundation.ΖΩΗΒΟΤ’s visit to primary schools is free of charge.
Mr. Dimitrios Giakoumis, a researcher at ITI, described the development process of the ΖΩΗΒΟΤ robot. ΖΩΗΒΟΤ was constructed by the robotics laboratory of CERTH/ITI and it is a moving robot with humanoid characteristics, which recognizes the human activity around it and behaves in response to it. More specifically, using artificial intelligence methods, it recognizes the existence of students around it and reminds them of the basic protection measures they should follow at school to avoid the transmission of the coronavirus. It has been created entirely in Greece, while the outer shell has been printed by CERTH/ITI.
Dr Valia Lyratzi, Head of the Science and Technology Centre of the Eugenides Foundation, then took the floor and referred to the introductory educational presentation entitled “ΖΩΗΒΟΤ: my first Robot”, which will accompany ΖΩΗΒΟΤ on her visits to schools. The key elements mentioned in the presentation are the following:
-What are robots and where they came from.There are examples of robots that exist in the Science and Technology Center, as well as from others that exist on the market.
– Presentation of important applications of robots. Several examples of real robots on the market are given and is indicated where they find application.
-What are the basic parts of which robotic systems are composed and what is the use of each of them.
– Description of ΖΩΗΒΟΤ. Its basic elements are recognized. It refers to the way in which it works and how it interacts with children.
Continuing her presentation, Valia Lyratzi referred to the importance of familiarizing children with science and technology, as well as their connection with their daily activities. This is one of the objectives of the educational programs of the model Science and Technology Center of the Eugenides Foundation, which currently offers more than 30 different educational programs,(workshops or demonstrations of experiments) addressed to the last grades of primary and secondary education, but also to individual visitors and draw their topics from the fields of natural sciences, technology and robotics.The press conference was coordinated by Eleftheria Telioni, Donation Manager of the Eugenides Foundation, who referred to the long tradition of donations of the Eugenides Foundation to programs that are in line with its purpose, namely the contribution to technical and scientific education.
