BUILDING SOMETHING FROM NOTHING

Students coming from different public and private schools in Lapu-Lapu City joined this year’s Robotics Cup held at the City Hoops Dome.
CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO

2017 Robotics Cup

Matthew Luzano, 9, would spend an extra two hours in school daily to practice assembling and programming his Lego robots.

He said that he would never run out of energy to assemble robots and even toy trucks using building blocks despite a very grueling day at school.

Luzano, a grade 4 pupil of the Pajo Elementary School in Lapu-Lapu City, said his love for building something useful from blocks is fueled by his dream of becoming an engineer someday.

“Ganahan sad ko aning robotics kay nindot among trabaho nga makuha inag dako namo. Ganahan man ko mahimong engineer (I am interested in robotics because I know that with this, we will be able to land a good job. I want to be an engineer),” he told Cebu Daily News.

Luzano was one of the participants of the 2nd Lapu-Lapu City Robotics Cup which opened on Monday at the City Hoops Dome located along the Humay-Humay Road.

The 9-year-old boy and his teammates Jhe-Ann Geraldez and Miko Israel competed with other creators coming from 44 public elementary, 25 public high schools and some private schools in the city.

Building from scratch

Geraldez, 10, said she enjoys creating robots from an EV3 Lego Mindstorm kit that the Lapu-Lapu City government provided to them and the other contestants early this year.

The challenge starts with building their robots using Lego blocks. Their kits also include a micro controller, sensor, battery, wires and other gears that they could use to power their machine.

After they complete their creation, she and her two teammates would then help create a computer software that will make their robots move and perform simple tasks like recognizing directions and overcoming obstacles, among others.

“Malingaw ko magporma-porma unya magbungkag-bungkag. Dili man lisod kay gitudloan man mi (I enjoy assembling and dismantling the robots. It’s not hard because we were taught and trained to do it),” Geraldez told CDN.

The thrill of robotics

Donald Dungog, information technology officer of the Department of Education (DepEd) in Lapu-Lapu City, said that teaching kids the thrill of robotics is an effective way to stimulate their interest and bring them back to the classrooms instead of wasting time in internet cafés.

He said the city schools division is lucky to have gotten the city government’s support in their robotics program, which Dungog said is also an introduction to the automation technology that is now a major industry in the city.

“Most students would cut classes to go to internet cafés, so we want to make our classrooms more interesting and bring them back to our school. Also, we have here the Mactan Processing Zone, so automation is a big industry here. We want to also introduce automation to our students (as well),” he said.

Dungog, who is also a Philippine Robotics coach, said he wants to spread the knowledge on robotics to more students.

He said that Lapu-Lapu City now ranks seventh in the World Robot Olympiad for the Gen II Football category where robots with artificial intelligence play soccer with one goalie and one kicker against other teams. Other competitors in the category come from 68 other countries in the world.

Dungog said that their students are able to compete globally with the help of world-class robotics kits provided the city government.

Growing popularity

With the growing popularity of robotics in the country, more Lapu-Lapu City schools joined this year’s Robotics Cup. From only eight participating public schools in 2016, the number increased to 69 this year.

Dr. Marilyn Andales, the city schools division superintendent, said the city government has been very instrumental in the training of their coaches and students.

Andales said City Hall gave out robotics kits to the participating schools in May to allow the training of coaches and later on their students.

“We want our students to be globally competitive so we should put in place in our schools and classrooms the needed technology. It should not be limited to computers as there is another technology that they can manipulate by making inanimate things animate,” she said.

Robotics Cup

Yesterday’s competition was divided into three categories: elementary, junior high school and senior high school.

Participants started by assembling their robots from scratch for two and a half hours during the morning session. In the afternoon, they were allowed to test their creations by making these perform simple tasks.

Elementary division participants, Dungog said, made their creation with the contest’s sustainability theme in mind.

Their robots were then put to test by making these push a turtle and jaguar into the sea and forest.

Robots will have to push a Lego turtle figure about three inches away from where it stands or towards a blue-colored area that represents the sea, while the jaguar will have to be pushed towards a green area that represents the forest where it lives.

Participants in the high school division created robots with the theme lessening carbon emission. Their robots had to carry Lego-made trees and solar panels towards a section of their playing field.

Senior high school participants were asked to create robots that are capable of playing soccer.

“There are three members per team: the programmer, the builder and the engineer. They work together to hustle the challenges given to them,” Dungog said.

The top three winners in each of the three categories will represent the city in the national robotics competition that will be held in Manila next month.

The top four winners in the national competition will then represent the country in international competitions.

Dungog said Lapu-Lapu City students were sent to six international competitions that were held in South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Qatar and India in the past years.

Robotics Center

Together with the hosting of this year’s Robotics Cup, DepEd and the Lapu-Lapu City government also opened on Monday the Lapu-Lapu City Robotics Center that is located at the Hoops Dome.

Andales said the center will accommodate students who want to train using their robots and develop new programs.

Shortly after the center was opened, 20 senior high school teachers underwent training under the supervision of international robotics champions while their students competed in the Robotics Cup.

Alex Tkachenko, a 2015 World Robotics Olympiad champion from Ukraine, trained the teachers using the KNR Robotics technology, a more advanced technology where robots are able to perform more complex tasks like reconnaissance.

Tkachenko is currently taking a master’s degree in Computer Science in Taiwan.

With Tkachenko was Richard Cheng of the Lego Education Agency in Taiwan.

Andales said the two were flown to Cebu by Felta Multimedia Inc., a distributor of robotics kits who sponsored their activity.

She said the teachers will later pass their knowledge of the KNR robotics technology to their students.