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Future
Einsteins—young inventors, mostly elementary and
high-school students—who where winners in previous
robotics and biofuels competitions exhibited last week
their winning inventions at the Innovation Area of the
Intellectual Property Rights Office of the Philippines
(IP Phils) as part of the celebration of Intellectual
Property Rights Week.
Elementary pupils of
Tibagan Elementary
School as young as 11 years old created Sumo Robots and Robo Rally.
Sumo
Robots work like sumo wrestlers that push against each
other to show which has the greater strength whenever
inside a mini battling arena. Robo Rally is a truck-like
vehicle that has the ability to surpass obstacles with
the help of sensors. Both are made of Lego parts, a
motor and robot command explorer (RCX) 1.0.
High-school students also showcased their promising
inventions. Makati Science High School created the Robo
Gymnast, a group of robots that perform swing moves on
steel rings, parallel and horizontal bars. The robots
entertain the onlookers while inspiring them to engage
in sports.
The
Makati Science students also produced a Travellator or
the Robot Stairs Assistant. According to its creator
Kevin Nera, “The robot is designed to help the elderly
and people with leg injuries, arthritis or rheumatism in
getting from one place to another. The robot also allows
people with leg-related disabilities to climb stairs.”
Precision in sports locomotion inspired Princeton Sinag
and Joseph Gutierrez of Fort Bonifacio High School to
assemble an apparatus called Jumong Archer.
“Once it
detects the black line to which it is programmed, it
will turn 90 degrees and wait for three light blinks
[specified time] to shoot the target,” explained Sinag.
Gutierrez added, “It can shoot the arrow at a specified
distance.”
Environment-friendly robots, on the other hand, were the
inspiration of students from Novaliches High School. Out
of scrap materials, such as coconut shell, plastic pot
and aluminum scraps, they came up with a Janitor Robot
that sweeps the floor with a miniature broom and brush.
To
purify contaminated odorless air, an Aero-Filtering
Device was made by students to decrease airborne
particles causing common respiratory diseases.
Their
third invention is the Chichiriesene kerosene, a
flammable substance from crushed chichirica or pink
periwinkle stem, leaves and flowers.
“Maganda
po itong gamitin kasi no emission in burning unlike
sa diesel,” said its creator Paul Kevin Somera.
Estela
Gacayan, Somera’s coach, added, “We enkindle a drop for
a test; the flame lasted for nine minutes.”
The
seniors among the exhibitors were students from AMA
Education System. They displayed IR01, or Interactive
Robot 01, a life-size robot that can answer basic
questions through the help of a sound sensor. This
computer-controlled robot was constructed using
synthetic fiber, board and sensor camera.
Winners
of the annual Intel International Science and
Engineering Fair (Intel Isef) also posted their
inventions, such as biofuels and soaps made from janitor
fish’s oil; antibiotic substances from toad’s glands and
organs of puffer fish; and neutral networks that can
forecast the productivity of phytoplanktons, known as
the marine food chain’s foundation.
IP
Philippines Director General Adrian Cristobal Jr.
praised the participants for their being imaginative and
encouraged them to protect their creative works through
patents and gain from their benefits in the future.
“You
might be doing creative works out of fun only without
knowing your inventions are creating impact on other
people’s lives. Benefit from it through patent filing.
Your work will be protected while giving contribution to
our economic development,” said Cristobal.
Dr.
Carol Yorobe, assistant secretary of the Department of
Science and Technology, told the talented students to,
“avoid the mentality of ‘I want to be the first to have
this and that gadget,’ and change it instead to a
positive aspiration of ‘I want to be the first to
create.’”
Other
participating schools are Juan Sumulong High School and
Rizal Elementary School. The exhibit is open to the
public until November 23. |
