Fil students to lead in robotics competitions: Gabitan

ROBOTIC CONVENTION. Student delegate from St. Martin De Porres Catholic School, Guiguinto Bulacan holds the humanoid robot at the convention lobby of De La Salle Santiago, Zobel School Alabang in Muntinlupa City during the Youth Robotics Convention 2018 for preliminary Sumobot competition in a Summer Sumo Games with the theme “Save the Seas” on Saturday (June 16, 2018). (PNA photo by Oliver Marquez)

MANILA – Recognizing the ingenuity and passion of Filipino students for science and technology, Philippine Robotics Team President Anthony Gabitan said the Philippines will continue to lead in robotics competitions.

In an interview with Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Saturday, Gabitan said the Philippines has a bright future in the field of robotics because of the ability of Filipino students to adapt, deliver and improve despite having limited resources.

“Our team will have a bright future, we will not be second to anybody, Filipino students are known for what we call “abilidad” which made them do things that are out of the box and it enables them to win the competitions,” he said.

Gabitan cited the strategy a member of the Philippine team used in the 2012 International Robotics Olympiad to ace the mission category.

“This kid, I won’t mention the name of the school anymore, used his robot’s hand to extend it higher and went from point A to point D on the other side instead of going through a circular motion in order to complete the task, other candidates cried foul, but the committee decided that the Philippines should win because there’s no such prohibition stated in the rules,” he said.

De La Salle Santiago Zobel School International Robotics Coordinator Genevieve Pillar said Filipino students are more creative compared to their international competitors.

“Our kids want to learn more, though Filipinos are creative, I think we lack a bit in technical skills, so we need to focus on a higher level of programming and on enhancing the quality of robots we’re using,” she said.

For the students to learn the best practices in robotics, Pillar said Data Science and Technology Center and its partners hold annual conventions where coaches, administrators and robotics champions share tips and tricks.

“This convention today is for the preparation of the robotics olympiad, this is our soft launch also for the real competition in December,” she said.

Besides taking part in annual robotics conventions, Gabitan said their team holds coaches’ training and students’ workshops which aim to improve the students’ skills.

“We invite some doctorate from Canada, Singapore to come over for some workshop or seminar, we do that for around 3 to 4 times a year,” he said.

The Philippines started competing in the International Robotics Olympiad (IRO) in 2005.

Its first five years in the competition arena have been challenging as most of its competitors then had advanced know-how on this branch of science and technology.

But in 2013 to date, it has gathered 377 medals from different competition categories while engaging more student-participants in the field.

In December 2018, the Philippines will host the 20th IRO. Participants from all over the world will compete in different categories or games like mission challenge, robot gathering, robot farming extreme, battle cube and robot in the movie.

The preliminaries will be held on June 17 at De La Salle Santiago Zobel School in Alabang, Muntinlupa City