PHL's first three representatives for worldwide robotics competition chosen

The first batch of Philippine representatives to the International Robot Olympiad (IRO) were chosen on Saturday, during the National Robotics Competition (NRC) held at the Philippine Trade Training Center in Pasay City. Grace Christian College students Kimberly Gamboa (3rd Year High School), Ana Isabelle Chua (Grade 8), and Alexis Diane Ngo (Grade 6) emerged champions in the Breakout category, where they had to make a robot create its own path by rearranging the blocks in an obstacle. The grand prize was an all-expense paid trip to Beijing, China where the next IRO will be held on October or December 2014. The trio will go through rigorous training for the worldwide robotics competition which will be held. Anthony Gabitan, president of the Data Science Technology Corporation (DSTC), said that there will be other ways to join the IRO, but the winners of the Breakout competition will be sponsored by the DSTC. Over 650 elementary and high school students from all over the country competed in this year's NRC. To accommodate the surplus influx of participants, the DSTC divided the competition into two phases: the first one was held in November 2013, and the second was held this January. There were five categories in the robotics competition: 1. The most popular one is the Sumobot category where are two robots are made to push the other opponents out of a small arena, much like in Japanese Sumo wrestling. The robots in this competition are autonomous, which means that they are not remote controlled. This category proved to be so popular that the first phase of the NRC held in November was exclusively attended by Sumobot challengers. 2. The next category is, the Line Tracing where an autonomous robot is made to follow a certain path within a limited amount of time. Since the robot is not remote controlled, the it must have sensors that 'detect' the path to be taken. 3. In Prison Break, a remote-controlled robot is made to avoid blocks in an obstacle course. The game ends when the robot pushes a block outside of its designated cell. 4. Perhaps the most novel in this year's competition is Robot Soccer, a category only introduced this year. Two remote-controlled robots compete in a mini football field within two minutes. Whoever kicks the ball to its opponent's goal wins the game. 5. The last and perhaps the most complicated is the Breakout category where the official Philippine delegates to the IRO were chosen from. "Breakout needs [teamwork]. It needs you to be intelligent, it needs you to be cunning, and it needs you to be a problem solver. So you really get the best of the best [in] Breakout, because you need all these skills necessary to win," said Gabitan. In 2013, the Philippine Robotics Team brought home 24 medals from the 15th IRO held in Denver, Colorado, held from December 19 to 21. These include three gold medals, six silver medals, and 15 bronze medals and special awards. — DVM, GMA News