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bout 305 aficionados from all over Indonesia demonstrated their ability to design robots in the 2011 Indonesian Robotic Olympiad (IRO) in Jakarta on Saturday.

The competition is expected to single out the best candidates to take part in the World Robotic Olympiad (WRO), which will take place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in November.

Ryan Anthony, a 12-year-old student from Surabaya, made a robo-planter together with his friend, James Indrawan. “The robot can plant seeds to help reduce global warming,” he said, hoping that he can win this year’s competition.

Nurman Romadhoni, an open category participant, said that he had developed a robot that could detect underwater armies via satellite for the navy.

But he lamented the government’s lack of appreciation for his design. “They only mention my name as the inventor,” he said.

He said he hoped that the government would provide scholarships for him and other inventors.

Nurman and his two friends, Yudi Ermawan and Ariana, are making a water filter robot for the competition.

He explained that the robot, which took two weeks to make, could transform river or sea water into clear drinking water.

Participants, aged between 12 and 19 years, competed in three different age categories.

Aside from these categories, there was also an open category catering to participants seeking to develop and present robotic solutions to improve daily life.

The most popular robots were a soccer-playing robot, and the “Rubiks Solver” robot that can solve rubiks games in less than one minute.

“This competition aims to motivate the Indonesian people, especially youngsters, in order to cultivate the innovative base in the field of information technology,” Suharna Surapranata, the State Minister for Research and Technology, said.

He said that, with the world’s fifth largest human resources base, he hoped the event would help improve Indonesia’s competitive edge internationally in terms of innovative capability.

Arief Rachman, the executive chairman of the Indonesian National Commission to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said that the government should show their appreciation to the winners; indeed to all the participants of the event, as they are helping the country with their innovative ideas.

“I hope the government will give them scholarships,” he told The Jakarta Post during the event.

The winner of each category will receive Rp 2.4 million (US$240) in prize money and free registration to compete in the WRO.

Bambang Rusli, the chairman of the IRO’s steering committee, told the Post that, at present, only Surabaya’s local administration had offered scholarships to the event’s participants. He said that he would continue to ask for scholarships from the government also.

The IRO was organized by the Mikrobot, which is a national robot festival aimed at bringing together young students from all over Indonesia to develop their creativity and problem solving skills through challenges, education, and competitions.