Six months of tinkering and energy-sapping efforts finally paid off when their robot, RIGPPD, was adjudged winner at the 8th Malaysia and Congress FIRA Cup 2015. The robotic competition was held at the Ungku Omar Polytechnic (PUO) from May 11 to 15. The winning machine was crafted by students from the Port Dickson Polytechnic.
Team leader, Mohamad Nabil Fauzi was beaming with joy upon knowing the results. He was proud of his team’s achievement, given the time frame and the many constraints and difficulties they had to face.
“We did numerous researches prior to the competition. Every team member, including our lecturers, had worked hard for this competition. I can never thank them enough,” said Nabil who majors in Mechatronic Engineering.
Khairus Syatirin Salleh, their mentor, was equally impressed by his students’ grit and determination to win the cup.
“We did a post-mortem soon after last year’s competition to find out our shortcomings. We did some alterations to the programme chip and overhauled the mechanical system. It’s the right move,” said the lecturer to Ipoh Echo.
The competition was divided into six categories namely, Humanoid Robot Soccer Tournament (HuroCup), Simulated Robot Soccer Tournament (SimuroSot), Micro Robot Soccer Tournament (MiroSot), Robot Soccer Tournament (RoboSot), Android Soccer Tournament (AndroSot) and My Inspiration Robot (MyBOT).
RIGPPD won four golds, six silver and 2 bronze medals defeating PUO HYDRA from PUO into second place.
The Port Dickson team will represent Malaysia in the RoboSot category at the FIRA Roboworld Cup and Congress in Daejeon, South Korea in August. Ipoh’s PUO HYDRA will contest in the AndroSot category. The Ipoh-made robot won four gold medals, three silvers and four bronzes.
Ili Aqilah
