PH students bag silver, bronze medals in 2013 World Robotics Olympiad
The 112-member Philippine Robotics Team at the 2013 World Robotics Olympiad. Dr. Yanga’s College Inc. once again finished in the top three with silver medals in the elementary and high school categories. Grace Christian College high school team won bronze in the high school team.
MANILA, Philippines – Students from the Philippines won silver and bronze medals in the recently held 2013 World Robotics Olympiad that drew almost 400 teams from over 36 countries.
The Philippine Robotics Teams in the elementary and high school levels from Dr. Yanga’s College Inc. (DYCI) won silver medals while the Grace Christian College high school team and DYCI college team won bronze medals.
The DYCI high school team has been consistently finishing among the top positions of the robotics competition for several years. DYCI was the champion of the 2012 WRO with Grace Christian College winning second place.
The DYCI high school team’s entry for the international robotics competition consists of a set of robots designed to take care of the Banaue Rice Terraces, in line with the contest’s theme “Promotion and Protection of World Heritage.”
The DYCI team composed of King Olgado, 14, Anne Jazpher Raz, 14, and Rey Allen Infante, 12, invented three robots named ProGrow, ProTek, and ProTrek.
Dr. Yanga’s College Inc. (DYCI) high school and elementary teams show off their robots during the national finals of the Philippine Robotics Olympiad. Both teams won the Silver medal in the recently concluded 2013 World Robotics Olympiad.
ProGrow is a camera-equipped remote controlled robot capable of going around muddy fields to spray water or fertilizer on plants. It is also equipped with a soil quality tester which can relay the information it gets to a central computer.
ProTek, which is also remote controlled, has a device that emits ultrasonic waves for up to 200 meters, keeping away crop-eating pests. It also has a robotic arm capable of taking plant samples and a weather vane to measure wind speed.
A separate robotic system at an irrigation dam can be controlled by ProTek to ensure that the water level in the fields remain on a constant level
Their third robot, ProTrek, is a backpack for those going out into the fields. It is equipped with headlights, navigation equipment and tracker, first aid kit, and a camera.
The robots were first unveiled during the finals of the Philippine Robotics Olympiad where the team said that their inspiration for the three robots came from Ifugao folklore.
The entry of the DYCI elementary team is a submersible robot dubbed “Neo Ecological Marine Operative” or Nemo and is designed to clean oil spills.
The team, composed of Nico Navatilan, 12, Raingel Mendoza, 11, and Aldrine Cristobal, 11 said that they were inspired to build Nemo when a US Navy ship ran aground in the Tubbataha Reef.
The 2013 WRO was held in Jakarta, Indonesia from November 13 to 18. The Philippine Robotics Team was composed of 112 members which included the students from DYCI and Grace Christian College.
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