Bulacan students win 4th place in World Robot Olympiad

MALOLOS CITY, Philippines  – A team of high school students from this province won fourth place in the annual World Robot Olympiad (WRO) held recently in Abu Dhabi.

The team from Dr. Yanga’s Colleges Inc.(DYCI) in Bocaue town also bagged the Best Technical Design Award for their robot “MAGIS,” which stands for “Man’s All-Around Global Interactive Solutions.”

The DYCI Primes robotics team is composed of Alexandra Mae Guevarra, Claire Receli Reñosa, and Chelsea Andrea Morales. Beryl Cruz is head coach while Romyr Gimeno is assistant coach.

Team members Reñosa and Morales competed for the first time, while Guevarra was part of the DYCI team that bagged the WRO championship last year. 

“The competitions were tough and the competitors were very good, but we were glad that we made it to top four in the open category,” said Cruz.

Malaysia, South Africa and South Korea won the first, second and third place, respectively.

The International School of Manila won fifth place in the open category and the Philippine Science High School based in Camarines Sur, won fifth place in Robot Soccer.

Cruz said MAGIS is a robot that has a calamity tracker dog, which could detect flood. It is also has a mini-screen projector for entertainment; e-brail for the elderly who can’t read; a thermometer and blood pressure measuring device; and is also a personal savings machine.

“MAGIS was design to help man in his everyday life, that’s why it also have an amicus program which can play Tic-Tac-Toe with you and he can display happy and sad emotions,” he said.

The award is the third for DYCI in three consecutive years. In 2009, the DYCI team placed ninth in the WRO held in South Korea; and ruled the WRO held at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City last year.