PHL teams bag gold and silver medals at World Robotics Olympiad 2012

The Philippine contingent took home two of the highest awards during the 2012 World Robotics Olympiad held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Nov. 9 to 11. Over 400 teams from 30 countries all over the globe participated in the contest.

 

Dr. Yanga Colleges Inc. of Bocaue, Bulacan won the gold medal for the Junior Highschool Open Category with their robot creation "HERO." 

"HERO" or Humanoid for Educational Reinforcement Operation is a teaching assistant robot inspired by the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year, the Philippines' very own Efren Peñaflorida.

 

Peñaflorida's "Kariton Rebolusyon" just got upgraded with HERO's humanoid skills and revamped pushcart. Felta News reported, "HERO can mimic facial expressions, he can also play rock, paper, scissors game, he shows dancing robots as visual aids for his students." 

 

HERO is also an English, Science and Math teacher with built-in video lessons. An advocate of the environment, HERO is also able to separate plastic from paper and teach students about recycling.

 

Following DYCI's lead is Grace Christian College of Quezon City, which bagged a silver medal with their robot set "I-Learn" or Interactive Learning with Exciting and Advanced Robot Navigation.

 

I-Learn is composed of two main robot sets: Hotshots, for counting and color recognition, and Code Breaker, an interactive game to challenge students' logical reasoning and creative thinking.

 

Malaysia's Nanny Robot came in third.

 

Both robots were conceptualized with this year's team, "Robots Connecting People." The criteria for judging include overall value of the project, engineering design, programming, presentation, and teamwork of the presenters.

 

The two teams were the winners of the Open Category at the 11th Philippine Robotics Olympiad held at SM North Edsa on Sept. 5 and 7. —Shaira Panela/KG, GMA News