Robots of the finalist teams all lined up before the start of the competition
Elementary and high school robotics enthusiasts from all over the Philippines, together with their coaches and parents, assembled at SM North Edsa, Quezon City on 22-23 September 2022, to compete in the 21st Philippine Robotics Olympiad (PRO) Finals.
The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) partnered with Felta Multi-Media, Inc. as a major sponsor in this year’s PRO.
Student finalists look on as their robot performs the Robo Mission challenge.
With this year’s theme, “My Robot, My Friend”, the first place winners in the different categories will have the opportunity to be part of the Philippine Robotics National Team 2022 and compete in the World Robot Olympiad to be held in Dortmund, Germany, in November 2022.
Asst. Prof. Glenn N. Baticados, SEARCA’s Program Head for Emerging Innovation for Growth Department (EIGD), served as one of the judges in the Open Category – Future Innovators Challenge, together with Mr. Gilbert Zamora, President of the Philippine Robotics Society, and Ms. Cecile Maris Gozalo, Service Operations Manager of Infor.
The Future Innovators Challenge is an open project competition where students create their own innovative, intelligent, robotics solutions that help solve real-world problems. This year, three agri-innovations made it to the finals – ProjectAutomat:ABF1R3, an air filtering robot using abaca fiber; Agronomic Overflow Management System or AGOS robot manages water levels in a simulated planting environment; and the Innovative Mango Pest Detector Conveyor Robot or IMPesDeCor detects mango pests and sorts between infected and non-infected mangoes.
Ms. Mylene Abiva, Felta CEO and President, expressed her appreciation for the teams, schools, coaches, and parents for participating and supporting the event as it was the first time to hold the competition in-person after two years of lockdown. Ms. Abiva congratulated and inspired the finalists to continue to dream big, build big, and go for the gold in this year’s World Robot Olympiad in Germany.
Senior High School Open Category winning team from Columban College pose for a photo with Ms. Mylene Abiva (second from left), Felta Multi-Media, Inc. CEO and President, and judges Mr. Gilbert Zamora (secondfrom right) and Asst. Prof. Glenn N. Baticados (rightmost), SEARCA Program Head, Emerging Innovation for Growth Department (EIGD).
The Philippine Robotics Olympiad (PRO) is an annual science educational event that primarily aims to challenge the intellectual skills and critical thinking of elementary and high school students in the field of robotics.
SEARCA, as one of the major sponsors of the 21st PRO, will sponsor the winning team in the Senior High School Open Category to compete in the World Robot Olympiad 2022.
SEARCA also hosted the 1st Laguna Robot LEGOlympics in July 2022 in collaboration with Felta Multi-Media, Inc.