Romanian students develop AI robot for elderly care, winning the national competition

A remarkable initiative by Romanian students is bringing hope to the field of elderly care. The EngiGirls team from Colegiul Național Ioan Slavici in Satu Mare won first prize at the national 3DUTECH AI for Good 2026 competition with their SoulLink project — a mobile robot equipped with artificial intelligence, designed specifically for elderly people living alone.

The national competition, held on 29 May in Bucharest, brought together ten finalist teams from nine cities across the country, all developing innovative artificial intelligence solutions with a positive social impact. The winning project demonstrates that technology can become a valuable ally in combating social isolation among older adults and in ensuring their safety.

Second and third place went to two other projects with relevance to health and rehabilitation. The CarbonCopy team from Galați developed H.A.L.O, a humanoid robot for rescue missions, whilst students from Pitești created Smart Rehab Grip, a medical exoskeleton for rehabilitation through haptic stimulation.

The impact of technology for older adults

The SoulLink robot represents an innovative approach to a real problem faced by many elderly people: social isolation and the lack of daily assistance. By integrating artificial intelligence, this mobile robot can provide companionship, monitoring, and basic support to seniors living alone, helping to improve their quality of life.

The project exemplifies how younger generations understand the needs of older adults and seek technological solutions to address them. The initiative places emphasis on moving beyond technology as a mere trend towards practical applications that can make a genuine difference in people's everyday lives.

The competition highlighted that students can become active creators of solutions — not merely users of technology — when given access to qualified mentors and challenges that are genuinely relevant to society. The other finalist teams proposed a range of solutions covering monitoring, education, the environment, and safety.

The 3DUTECH initiative, now in its eighth edition, has developed 62 3D printing and robotics hubs in secondary schools across all counties and has trained more than a thousand young people. The programme has integrated 40 AI hubs into schools and offers internationally recognised certification, contributing to the development of a new generation of specialists in emerging technologies.