Three Indonesian students from Sinarmas World Academy have been named winners at the World Robot Olympiad (WRO) Canada 2020-X in the open category.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the event took place online from Nov. 12 to 15.

The students, who were part of the RoboKnights team, were Alisa from grade ten as well as Ayden and Kevin from grade eight. After selecting the “manufacturing locally to avoid transportation” topic, the team created a model robot called ZOID as a representation of their localized manufacturing solution.

 

 

 

 

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Said to be able to mimic human joint movements from shoulders to fingers, ZOID can be controlled from short and long distances, which would allow remote manufacturing and reduce transportation costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

“There are two modes to the robot: ‘record’, which inputs and records the user’s hand movements, and ‘auto’, which continuously plays the prerecorded hand movements. This is of great importance in manufacturing as most tasks are rigorous and repetitive,” Ayden said in a statement.

Alisa expressed her joy at being part of a winning team. “This project is something we have poured all of our dedication and effort into for the past six months, and we have succeeded as the only Indonesian team to get first [prize] in the open category in the past two decades,” she said.

Alisa noted that the outbreak had added another challenge for RoboKnights. “We learned to adapt to the situation and decided to hold online meetings and split up the big project into smaller chunks, so we each had our own delegated tasks and roles,” said Alisa.

Sinarmas World Academy science department head Haoken said RoboKnights’ victory showed Indonesia’s talent in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). “Through their participation and the significant distinctions they have gained in the field of educational robotics, we are demonstrating Indonesia’s potential in the STEM field and the evolution that has taken place in recent years,” Haoken said.

Alisa encouraged young people to keep trying and never give up in their efforts to create change through STEM. “Don’t be afraid to try new things. Creating a novel, unheard-of solution always seems impossible until it’s done,” she said. “It’s hard to start taking the initiative, but even harder to keep going and not to stop. Success will be the result of all those small efforts every single minute, all pooled together. When you do all of these things, before you know it, you will have made a real, positive change.”

Initiated in 2004, the annual World Robot Olympiad is a prestigious international robotics competition for students aged 10 to 21.

Sinarmas World Academy is the only winning school from Indonesia and received the EduTECH Asia Awards in 2019 for best STEM initiatives. (wir/wng)