site.bta Prof. Avgust Ivanov: Bulgaria Has Potential in Development of Industrial Robotics

Bulgaria has potential in the development of industrial robotics, and there will be a leap in that field in the near future, Prof. Avgust Ivanov said in an interview for BTA. Director of the Institute of Robotics at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) and co-inventor of 31 patents, Prof. Ivanov had his name inscribed in the Golden Book of the Patent Office during an official ceremony here on Wednesday. His work encompasses the fields of robotics, sensing, artificial intelligence, nano and micro technologies.

"There is robotics in Bulgaria, exactly in this area, but it is looking for a place under the sun, as they say, in the areas of recycling robots, writing new software for them and giving new life to such technologies," the scientist said. According to him, almost everything that is in the industry in terms of manufacturing in this area is related to imported technology.

He noted, however, that there are many specialists in Bulgaria as well as strong interest in training in this field. He gave as an example the economic zone in Plovdiv (South Central Bulgaria), where there is a strong need of maintenance engineers. "That is great, and I believe that in the near future there will be a leap in that field," he added.

He noted that he has been working at the Institute of Technical Cybernetics and Robotics since 1985. Back then, there was a lot of focus on industrial robotics. Unfortunately, in the years of change, the lack of funding changed the map, the scientist commented. He recalled, specifying that he was saying it without nostalgia, that under the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance the emphasis in the country was on the production of electric forklifts, forklifts, and the first Bulgarian personal computers were made at the Institute. With time, when the State started to finance science less, there were crises in this development and now this direction is strongly underestimated. The scientist noted with regret that in the field of industrial robotization Bulgaria has been overtaken by countries such as Japan, the USA, China, and Western European states.

We are talking about a complex of our ideas that we have implemented in these patents," he explained and highlighted the work of the team of scientists with mentor Academician Chavdar Rumenin. "Almost everything we have patented is in the field of electronics and magnetic field multisensors, related to how chips are affected by it and by extreme temperatures," Prof. Ivanov added, pointing out that it is applicable in space technology. He noted the complexity of studying these processes. "Fortunately, we have been able to fund wonderful scientific equipment through European projects, which can be viewed on the open days at the Robotics Institute," he said.

The scientist graduated from the mathematics class in the capital's 21st Secondary School. "At the Technical University, my thesis supervisor, with whom I got along very well and even then we had two publications, gave me a vision for my possible future development as a PhD student at the Institute of Technical Cybernetics and Robotics, and I found myself in a suitable environment for scientific activity," Prof. Ivanov described his path in science. For more than 30 years, he has been working with Academician Rumenin in the field of microelectronics and nanotechnology.

As an inspiring individual, Prof. Ivanov mentioned his wife, who is a geneticist by education and works at the BAS Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics. She is an associate professor and also teaches PhD students. "We are basically an academic family, it is good that we move in different directions, but it helps from a purely organisational point of view," the scientist commented.