Turning to robotics

After last month’s amazing reunion weekend of the Class of 1993 of UP High School Cebu, it was satisfying to see the fruits of our efforts: An initial donation of 80 robotics kits worth P125,000 and P50,000 cash to the school last August 15.

I admire the collegiality and generosity within the batch because we’re not even half done. We managed to gather more funds and commitments to continue in the long haul our support for the high school’s robotics program.

We’re looking at the inclusion of robotics in the high school curriculum in the Philippines. I’m not sure if it should be taught as a separate subject or just be an integral part of math and science classes. Either way, the benefits of studying robotics is vital in solving the current and future challenges in the country.

Anthony Gabitan, president of the Philippine Robotics Team, said so in a report by the Philippine News Agency (PNA) last month, adding that robotics is not exclusive to the idea of humanoids only, it encompasses a broad spectrum of technologies.

Robotics education or training also actually improves the creativity level of high school students by more than 10 percent.  This was the major finding in a study by La Salle University professors Merlina Japlos, Elmer P. Dadios, and Edwin J. Calilung published in the International Journal of Human-friendly Welfare Robotic Systems in 2005. The study concluded that it is important to integrate robotics subjects in the curricula of secondary level education.

Speaking to the PNA, Department of Education Undersecretary Anne Sevilla revealed that robotics as a subject is only taught in science high schools while still an elective in other high schools because of the K to 12 program.

Sevilla admitted that the concept of robotics is new to DepEd and that they are looking into incorporating it in the DepEd curriculum after strengthening the current program. Quite surprisingly, Sevilla shared their observation that a lot of participants and even winners in robotics competitions are from the public schools. “So we are really looking forward to enhancing our support to the program of robotics," Sevilla told PNA.

With increasingly unpredictable and adverse changes in the climate, there is also more to gain in focusing our efforts to using robotics technology in coping with these changes. While we continue to press for more green measures to save our planet, I guess there is no denying the fact that we have already crossed the irreversible threshold in climate change.

Within the last few years, we have been experiencing unusually hot and humid weather during months when it is not supposed be. The weather bureau PAGASA has already warned us that El Niño may make an earlier than expected comeback late this year. In the rest of the globe, summer across the northern hemisphere this year saw record-breaking high temperatures. The world will continue to warm and the disruptive consequences will be more far-reaching than we have ever known.

By investing in robotics, we are better preparing ourselves for this kind of future. Roboticists are developing, for example, new software and mechatronics applications that bring down the costs of sorting and recycling garbage.

Drones and other remote-controlled or self-driving vehicles could do most of the tedious work of moving things from point A to B for us while at the same time reducing energy consumption.

In the agriculture sector, high-tech innovations in data-tracking systems are being done to help farms and agro-processing companies adapt to irregular shifts in weather patterns.

Robotics can be used to lessen pollution and emissions through monitoring and preventing the release of harmful greenhouse gases. It can also optimize the manufacturing processes, thus reducing energy consumption.

It may also not be farfetched to imagine a future where advancements in biorobotics allow us to embed in our bodies certain materials and tools that extend our capabilities or enable us to better cope with harsher environments.

In the Philippine context, these may appear more like quixotic musings than realistic visions. But let me tell you one thing: The Philippines Robotics Team won a silver medal at the World Robot Olympiad in 2017, besting 390 other reams from 53 countries in building, testing, and programming robots for applications in sustainable tourism, carbon neutrality and clean energy.  This year, our team brought home 23 medals from the recently-concluded International Robotics Championship in China. I rest my case.