On April 20, Sheremetyevo Airport security personnel suspected something was wrong with three oversized pieces of luggage for an Air China flight to Nanchang, China. They made an additional check, which revealed three ready-to-use combat robots that they immediately seized, Lenta.ru (in Russian) reported.
The check revealed that the robots belonged to three students of the Moscow Technical University traveling to China for the Robot Battles competition in Nanchang.
Apparently, airport security took issue with the fact that the robots were assembled and readied for use prior to the flight.
“The engineers dismantled and packed the robots again in the airport to address the complaints [of the security personnel]. Now the team has passed inspection and is heading to China,” said Alexander Kovalenko, head of the communications department at the Moscow Technical University, reported Lenta.ru (in Russian).
The 2017 FMB Championship takes place April 22 in Nanchang, China.