Pinoy rookie team bags 3rd place at intl robotics festival

Published May 25, 2012 9:30am

Even though they were neophytes, the Philippine robotics team bagged the third place in the "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology" (FIRST) Lego League World Festival in St. Louisiana, Missouri, United States. According to a news release of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the Philippine team — composed of high school students from Bulacan — beat 76 other teams with their anti-botcha (anti-double dead meat) robot. Forty of the teams were from the US. The "Meat’s Anti-Germs and Infection Solution Version 2" (MAGIS Version 2) robot of team DYCI Blue Ocean 10 from the Dr. Yanga’s College, Inc. (DYCI) in Bulacan was created using LEGO NXT controllers which can detect contaminated meat.

Made mainly of stainless steel, aluminum, and acrylic plastic, the robot has color and temperature sensors to detect contaminated meat.

Any meat that records a higher temperature value than expected and has a deviating color is tagged as unsafe for human consumption. The team hopes that the Philippines' National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) can adopt their invention in inspecting double-dead meat.

The triumphant Philippine team is composed of Team Captain Gladys Leigh Malana, Tricia Carmela Santos, Ramikert del Prado, Michelle Arcanar, Kate dela Cruz, Lady Alein Goleng, Jules Martin Agsaoay, Jonathan Alejandro, Dave Adrian Bien, and Tim Jhalmar Fabillon.

DOST-Science Education Institute (SEI) Director Dr. Filma Brawner congratulated Team DYCI Blue Ocean 10 for the good showing in the international stage.

“We congratulate our Philippine Robotics team for again bringing honor in the bigger stage and we hope that this victory will inspire more young students to develop their skills in robotics and hopefully start a trend in making it big in the FLL in the coming years,” Brawner said in the press release posted on the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) website. - with Andrei Medina, VVP, GMA News

Tags: pinoyachievers, unitedstates, robotics