Smart robot ranks third in Turkey

The 'autonomous transport and collecting robot' developed by Asst. Prof. Dr. Pınar Oğuz Ekim from Izmir University of Economics (IUE) and her 3 students using artificial intelligence came third in the Future of Automotive Design Competition, where the most ambitious projects in Turkey participated. The team from IUE won a prize of 100 thousand liras in the competition where 383 projects participated. The competition is organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Commerce, the Turkish Exporters Assembly, and the Automotive Industry Exporters Association.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Pınar Oğuz Ekim from IUE Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering and Bekir Bostancı (25), Sercan Çağdaş Tekkök (25) and Mehmet Emre Söyünmez (24), who graduated from the same department and continued their master's degree, turned their campus cooperation into a business partnership and established a company called 'Advoard Robotics'. Working on various projects, the team finally took action to develop a robot that can draw a route with the help of artificial intelligence, reducing the need for manpower by two thirds.

INVESTMENT FROM US COMPANY

The team, which developed the robot with a load carrying capacity of 200 kilos in about a year, attracted the attention of international companies with its success. The IUE team received an investment of 120 thousand dollars from a company in the United States (USA). The e-commerce company called ‘Hepsi Burada’ has also ordered 3 robots. Continuing its development rapidly, the IUE team added a new one to its achievements by finally ranking third in the Future of Automotive Design Competition.

WE SUCCEEDED IN ONE YEAR

Stating that they are happy to be deemed worthy of an award in such an important competition where there are many valuable projects,  Asst. Prof. Dr. Pınar Oğuz Ekim said, “When we first started the project, we believed in ourselves and thought that we would attract the attention of the industry by meeting an important need with the robot we were going to develop. We have now reached our target point. Although we are only a 1-year-old company, we both received investment from the USA and were deemed worthy of an award in such a prestigious competition. All this is an indication that we are on the right track.”

TIME- AND LABOR- SAVING

Asst. Prof. Dr. Ekim stated the following: “Our robots can be remotely assigned and observed thanks to the interface we have developed. They can plan their route within the scope of their tasks and can move with autonomous driving as a fleet thanks to the algorithms based on artificial intelligence. When you use the robot in a warehouse or production facility of thousands of square meters, both the turnaround time decreases, and the efficiency increases by using the employees in another job. Our robot offers solutions especially for many companies operating in the field of industry. The automotive industry is one of them. We are in negotiation with companies that have made a request for our robot. Our goal is to continue our development nationally and internationally.”