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By Perry Gil S. Mallari
Additional photos courtesy of
Genetic Computer Institute in 1978, two Japanese anime series
featuring giant robots, Mazinger Z and Voltes V, captured the
imagination of a generation of Filipino children. Today’s youths
relish Hollywood reboots of decades old anime fare such as
Transformers. Pinoy kids are still hooked on robots. But now they
are creating their own robots for real, tweaking their engines and
designing their functions using computer programs.
Purveyor of a new science
No longer just a passive
recipient for foreign fantasy entertainment, today’s youths are
pioneering cutting edge technology and making it patently Filipino.
Much more than child’s play, building robots hones skills
necessary for the true industrialization of the country—currently
just an assembly point for many foreign manufacturers with no
meaningful technology transfer. The future of the Philippines lies
with these whiz kids.
At the helm of the burgeoning
robotics craze in the Philippines today is the Genetic Computer
Institute. Pinky Legaspi, marketing manager of Genetic, explains
that they are currently offering robotics as an elective. Legaspi
states that Genetic’s robotics camps, which have been held as
often as 20 times in a year, have been a huge success for the past
three years.
Expounding on the character and
credential of the organization, she points out that Genetics is
unlike most regular computer schools in the country for the reason
that it is mainly an information technology (IT) solution provider.
“Besides offering regular IT courses, we provide support to local
schools in implementing their IT course curriculum,” Legaspi
narrates. She says that such task encompasses the development of
course content to the installation of the necessary hardware.
Legaspi relates that Genetic is
part of the Genetic Educational Group, which was founded in
Singapore in 1987. The group has now branches in 37 countries
worldwide and affiliations with 40 universities in various nations
including the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
The fun and challenge
of robotics
Learning the fundamentals of
robotics at Genetic is both fun and challenging. Legaspi says that
each student is issued a robotics kit that contains generic parts
that can be assembled any way a person may like it, a computer
motherboard and a miniature engine.
Students, says Legaspi, are
briefed on the factors that affect the functionality of a robot such
as physical design, gravity, friction and other fundamental concepts
of physics. There are basically two ways to program the robots:
participants belonging to the elementary school level use a
click-and-drag mode of programming while high school students were
taught Basic C+ programming language.
The students are then given
certain themes that will serve as a guide in designing the
intelligence and decisional skills of their robots. A
garbage-collecting robot for instance must be able to decide which
object to pick up and which object to junk.
These skills are put to test in
the various events of the annual National Robotics Competition
sponsored by Genetics. The obstacle race is a basic robotic system
game where robots would be identifying hurdles and avoiding
collision. Taken from the sport of Japanese Sumo, the Sumobot game
mimics a typical sumo match using robots. The most challenging
contest in the yearly robotics game is the exploration challenge
where robots are programmed to explore a playing field and collect
target objects.
Genetic puts a premium in keeping
its instructors abreast in the latest developments in the field of
robotics. Just recently, it invited Chaiwat Limpornchitwilai, a
robotics expert from Thailand, to brief the Genetic staff on the
latest progress in the field. Chaiwat is also the owner of Inex
Global, a manufacturer of robotics kits, electronic tools, digital
boards and other IT related electronic products.
Making robotics affordable
Legaspi agrees that the cost of
pursuing robotics as a hobby would prove prohibitive to most
Filipino children. “The price of a usual robotic kit is from
P30,000 to P40,000, an amount that is beyond the reach of most Pinoy
kids,” she admits. Legaspi points out that Genetic is aware of
this problem hence it made the cost of its robotic kits way below
lower than what is offered in the market. “Our robotics kit cost
only around P9,300 to P12,000, still substantial but definitely a
lot lower than what is sold in shops,” she stresses.
Legaspi says that Genetic is
currently working on a big project that will bring robotics to the
masses. “This program aims to teach basic robotics to 60 deserving
students from various public schools,” she relates adding,
“Genetics will provide the kids both tuition and robotic kits free
of charge.” Legaspi discloses that they are working closely with
Quezon City Councilor Franz Pumaren for the initiative to push
through. “All that we’re asking from the local government is to
set aside one public school in the city as the venue for the
event,” she points out.
World-class
A proof of Pinoys’ prowess in
robotics is the winning of the Philippine team in the recent World
Robot Olympiad in Yokohama, Japan, this month. The Gracean Whizkids,
composed of Joseph Aldrin Chua (Grade 6), Edrich Hans Chua (Grade 5)
and Dominique Hannah Sy (Grade 5), all students of Grace Christian
Elementary School bagged the silver medal prize in the contest’s
open category. Two more Filipino teams, the Benigno Aquino High
School and the International School of Manila both landed on the 6th
place in the open category for high school and elementary levels.
The South Korean team won the gold while the Malaysian team got the
bronze in the open category for the elementary division.
The Gracean Whizkids’ entry,
dubbed “The G-Tech Robot Engineering a Better World,” is a set
of 12 different robots programmed to accomplish environmental tasks.
Participants in the competition fashioned their robots out of LEGO
toys. An annual event, the World Robot Olympiad attracts contestants
from different countries including Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and
Taiwan.
Commenting on the feat of the
Gracean Whizkids, Legaspi says the Grace Christian High School is
investing heavily to beef up its robotics elective. “It’s been
working with a number of institutions that are experts in this field
including Genetic,” she narrates. Grace Christian High School has
been in continuous partnership with Genetic for the past six years.
It is commendable that the
Philippine government recognizes the Filipino youth’s potential in
robotics. In a recent media announcement, Dr. Ester Ogena, Director
of the Department of Science and Technology-Science Education
Institute intones that her agency will support the Philippine
robotics team in preparation for its participation in the World
Robotics Olympiad 2010, which will be held in the country.
Future potential
While some may look at robotics
as a mere rich kid’s hobby, it is important to note that in
developed countries particularly Japan, the creation and utilization
of robots for utilitarian tasks is in full swing. Japanese companies
are known to employ industrial robots in jobs too dangerous, too
dirty or too dull for humans to accomplish such as manufacturing,
assembly, packing, transport, earth and space exploration, surgery,
weapons development and laboratory research. In a highly automated
world, there will be little use of for cheap labor. Robotics may be
a chance may offer the next generation of Filipinos an opportunity
for true industrialization.
The Philippines have everything
to gain and nothing to lose in supporting the nurturing of its young
science and technology enthusiasts. There is no question that we are
good in this game. Four decades ago, a Filipino engineer by the name
of Eduardo San Juan helped design the Lunar Rover, the first wheeled
vehicle to roam the surface of the moon. Given the right support and
proper exposure, it’s just a matter of time before the present
breed of Pinoy robotics wizards come up with something that will
surprise the world.
What’s in a name?
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Isaac Asimov, first used
the word “robotics” in print in his science fiction short story
Liar! published in May 1941 in Astounding Science Fiction. Asimov
was unaware that he was coining the term; since the science and
technology of electrical devices is electronics, he assumed robotics
already referred to the science and technology of robots. Czech
writer Karel Capek in his play RUR-meaning Rossum’s Universal
Robots, which premiered in 1921, introduced the word robot to the
public.
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