San Juan City Science High School Joins Tagisang Robotics Competition 3.0: Girls and Gears

San Juan City Science High School joined the Department of Science and Technology’s first all-female robotics competition in the country, the Tagisang Robotics Competition 3.0: Girls and Gears. Female high school students from Grade 7 to 10, including Alyssa Renee M. Locsin from 7- Newton, Rea Valerie C. Sampaga from 8- Andromeda, Xryzthea M. Calderon from 9- Botany, Samantha Gabrielle Oga from 9-Zoology, Norissa T. Ko from 10- Venus and Ms. Angela S. Atisor, a Science teacher, joined the said competition.

The competition aimed to bridge the gender gap in robotics education and to address issues of underrepresentation of women in STEM. With this robotics competition, DOST was able to align the same aim to empower female high school students by providing them with a way where they can explore different roles in robotics and programming while developing robotic skills that will prepare them to become successful in their chosen STEM careers.

Before the face-to-face conduct of the Qualifying Heats and Final Competition, school teams had a five-day Robotics Technical Training and Workshop. Engineer Mark Jayson de Jesus of the ThinkLab Team, guided the students in their training. The training covered topics such as Basic C Programming and Electronics, Introduction to Arduino and Microcontrollers, Breadboard Prototyping, and Troubleshooting, Wireless Communication, and kit-of Parts (KOP) platform.

After the five-day technical training and workshop, a series of practice games were held at the Philippine International Convention Center(PICC) in Pasay City.

The first preliminary round was set last May 27, 2023. It focused on basic mobot build and programming. The tasks were designed to enrich and test mastery of the teams on mobot’s basic movement using motors and mecanum wheels, as well as the usage of embedded input, output, and sensor peripherals, and with each task accomplished, weighted scores were given. San Juan City Science High was able to reach the Top 10 of the initial qualifying round.

The second round was conducted last July 2, 2023, and it focused on intermediate mobot control. The tasks mainly centered on how the mobots moved, located, and targeted addresses using their line sensors, and detected and determined pallet colors using their color sensors. Unfortunately, the team only reached the Top 14 of the second preliminary round.

The third round was held last August 16, 2023, and focused on advanced mobot build and programming. Tasks were centered on how the mobots moved, sensed, and delivered effectively and efficiently within a limited period of time. The fastest mobots with correct color detection, pallet lifting sequences, and output display were given additional points. This time, the SJC representatives managed to reach 8th place among the 20 participating National Capital Region school teams.

In the end, San Juan City Science High School’s JuanSci Ada Technotron took immense pride in its outstanding performance in the competition finishing Top 8 among the 20 competing schools. It could be said that San Juan City Science High School is now ready, more than ever, to venture more into the field of Science and Technology, especially in robotics.

The contests took place from May to August 2023, where 20 school participants competed fiercely for the chance to win a trophy and a cash prize.

Article Written by:

Angela S. Atisor

Teacher II - San Juan City Science High School