A "Magic Electricity-sensitive Robot" attracted many participants of the 8th National Children's Robot Competition that was held in Changsha, capital city of the central Hunan province, between July 16 and 18, 2008. The robot was produced by He Zheye, a grade-one student from the middle school attached to Hunan University. The robot is capable of detecting the dangerous zones or equipment which could cause electricity shocks, and is able to warn people by sound or light.

Since the opening of the competition, robots of varied features had been brought out for display and competition.

The event was jointly hosted by the China Association for Science and Technology  (CAST) and the Hunan provincial government. Over 2,000 teachers and students in the 450 teams from 33 delegations coming from all over the country participated in different matches in the competition, and these include robot challenging match, robot football, skill competition amongst intellectual robots and also engineering design by robots. Mr. Qi Rang, vice president and executive secretary of CAST and other related officials attended the opening ceremony.

For the competition this years more importance was attached to the integrated quality and ability of the competitors in research and design of robots and also in their team work. The Judgment Committee of the Competition was made up of related scientists, robot technology experts, outstanding educational personnel, and senior judges in this field. Excellent products in this competition would be recommended to participate in the 2008 - 2009 International Robot Competition.

Under the theme of "Merry Olympics 2008", the participating competitors took to the event many wonderful products, and came up with many magical ideas regarding the environmental pollution, safety issues and issues relating to green energy. The "Robot for Mapping, Warning and Tracking of Water Surface Pollutants", a product by Yali Middle School of Changsha city, takes the shape of an UFO as appeared in some science fiction movies. It is capable of such functions like surveying and checking on the water surface, automatic identification of pollutants and warning, real-time mapping of water surface pollutants, automatic tracking of pollution belts, circling of pollution areas, automatic searching for the sample spot and taking samples and bringing them back, according to the little competitor.

One robot developed by a middle school in Jinchang, Gansu Province, is named "Jiejie", meaning clean boy in Chinese. It is a robot for monitoring and removing polluted air. It moves amongst the enclosed spaces like homes, factories and schools. When encountering target pollutants such as SO2 and chlorine, it will start its cleaning machinery automatically and filter the pollutants.

Integrating exploration, knowledge accumulation and skill development, the National Children's Robot Competition is a science popularizing event which is oriented mainly to middle school students, providing an opportunity for young robot lovers nationwide to exchange and learn, and to demonstrate themselves on this special stage.

The next competition will be held in Xining, Qinghai province in 2009.