IT Teens: Ashot and Hayk

It’s a proven fact that love for technologies begins in childhood. Today students go to school with smartphones and do their homework on tablets.

There are many teenagers in Armenia now who not only use smartphones and tablets but also try to create something on their own - a game, an app or a program.

Itel.am continues its IT Teens series, presenting Armenian teenagers who’ve been interested in technologies since early childhood and create products in this industry.

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Mind Center students Ashot Gasparyan and Hayk Antonyan participated in Word Robot Olympiad Friendship Invitational Tournament (WROFIT) held on August 1-4 in Aarhus, Denmark. At the tournament, the boys presented the robot they built themselves.

Ashot Gasparyan, 12 y.o., Yerevan

I was 9 when my father bought my first computer. We started working on it a bit and then we learned about the contest and decided I should go. I have been making robots for 3 years now.

I participate in the national stage of the tournament for several years, and two times I reached the global stage, held in Thailand and then in India.

Every year the organizers give us a task, so we need to start working on it at least 5 months prior to the tournament. It’s very difficult to design a robot and write the code to make the robot work.

I returned from the tournament in Denmark with great impressions. I really liked the country, and the cities we visited were beautiful. We went to LegoLand too and I was stunned to see how many different things you can build with Lego.

I want to work in Synopsis’ U.S. office when I grow up. I plan to study abroad too.

I prefer playing in the street with other kids to playing computer games. On some days I don’t even turn on the compute. When I do, I don’t spend more than half an hour a day in front of it.

photo © Mediamax

I see my future in robotics. The work that is dangerous for humans can be done by robots. For instance, if you want to study the underwater world, we can’t submerge too deep because the pressure is very high and humans can’t take it. So, we could use robots for that. The same goes for studying the universe.

Hayk Antonyan, 12 y.o., Yerevan

I have been interested in technologies, robots and coding for a very long time.

It is really very difficult to make a robot from scratch, because you have to figure out which mechanisms, parts and equipment you will need for the task. You have to keep to the required size. Those are the main difficulties in robotics. Next, you code.

The tournament in Denmark was exciting. We learned a lot and we saw what solutions kids from other countries found. We went to some very interesting places, got familiar with Denmark, which is a beautiful country. It was my first international tournament, by the way.

I want to choose robotics as a profession in the future. I definitely want to work in Armenia, but I would like to study abroad and then return here.

Robots can’t become a problem for humans in the future. Some people think robots will replace humans, make it difficult to find a job, but I never believed that. Robots will actually help people. There are some hard, dangerous jobs now. For instance, robots can help put out fires, while the firemen will manage them from a safe distance.

I would like to create software that will enable people to drive cars remotely and take the passengers from one place to another.

Ayb Educational Foundation is the only official representative of the World Robot Olympiad in Armenia and the only official organizer of the national competition. In the scope of WRO, any participation of the Armenian teams in friendly and international tournaments is organized with the recommendation and consent of the Ayb Educational Foundation.

Narine Daneghyan
Photos by Emin Aristakesyan