Tagisang Robotics: Design, Build and Play Competition is the Department of Science and Technology-Science Education Institute’s (DOST-SEI) newest science competition aimed at raising the interest of students in the abovementioned fields in a battle of wits and brains by designing and building their robot specifically designed for a fun-filled game.
Dr. Leticia V. Catris, DOST-SEI officer in charge and deputy director, said Tagisang Robotics aims to also instill among the students the value of teamwork, team spirit and cooperation.
“We want our students to develop logical and systematic thinking skills as they plan and build their robot in a specified time frame, and widen their view of science and technology by giving them a chance to work with real life scientists, engineers and inventors,” she said.
Tagisang Robotics takes inspiration from the Philippine contingent’s overwhelming victory in 2009 at the First Robotics Competition, when it obtained the Rookie All Star Award and Rookie Highest Seeded Award at the Hawaii FRC Regional Competition, earning them a slot at the FRC International Finals held in Atlanta, Georgia.
“We want to give our students the same experience our Philippine contingent got when they joined FRC. We want them to experience the fun, the challenge and the journey of discovering their innate potential as scientists and engineers,” she said.
Being on its initial offering, participation to the Tagisang Robotics is by invitation only. Schools that will be chosen are those with prior experience in robotics.
Each school will form a team of 10 high-school students and one coach who will undergo an intensive training on robotics before they embark on the competition.
Each team will be given a standard set of Kit of Parts on July 28 during the Game Kickoff at the Music Hall of the SM Mall of Asia.
The teams will be building their robot for 57 days until the day of the competition.
On the day of the competition, each team will be assigned to an alliance with other schools, where they will be competing against other alliances.
Following the FRC model, the teams will be designated to other alliances until the top four teams emerge for the semifinals.
The top four teams will be picking their allies for the semifinals and will be battling out each other until they reach the finals.
Participating schools will be clashing for the Best Team and Best Alliance in the competition, which will be held on September 23 and 24.
The Best Team, the school with the highest seed, takes home P100,000 cash prize, its coach P30,000, a trophy and gold medals.
The Best Alliance will get P150,000 cash prize, P30,000 cash for the coach, trophies and silver medals.
Participating schools in Tagisang Robotics include (in alphabetical order) Bangkal High School, Benigno Aquino High School, Caloocan High School, Caruhatan National High School, De La Salle High School-Greenhills, Dr. Yanga’s College, Grace Christian College, Hope Christian High School, Las Pinas Science High School, Makati Science High School, Mandaluyong High School, Manila Science High School, Muntinlupa Science High School, Parañaque Science High School, Pasay City Science High School, Pasig City Science High School, Philippine Science High School—Main Campus, Quezon City Science High School, Rizal National Science High School, Rizal High School, St. Paul College Makati, Taguig City Science High School, Tibagan High School and Valenzuela City Science High School.
Catris expressed hopes that the competition does not only bring about interest in the sciences among the student participants but to the general public as well, as it brings out the importance and relevance of science in society.
“We have seen in the FRC experience that our students have the potential to excel in robotics. We hope that through Tagisang Robotics we can entice more students to explore their potentials also and bring about development in the country,” she said.
