The Philippine Consulate General wishes to invite the Filipino Community to come, cheer and extend support to the Philippine Team Lagablab to FIRST in Hawai’i Regional Robotics Competition to be held at the University of the Hawaii at Manoa, Stan Sheriff Center, from 26 -28 March 2009. The event is free and open to the public.
The Philippine Team from the Philippine Science High School, competing with their robot, Larry Labuyo, will be among the 34 teams from Hawai’i, the U.S. mainland and Mexico, who will compete in what is dubbed as the “varsity sport of the mind.”
For this year, the students would be engaging the robots in a game called “Lunacy”, which simulates the conditions in the moon. Robots would be using a special kind of wheel rolling over regolith, a material which is almost frictionless. The objective of the game is to place as many “moon rocks” into the trailer of the opponent in 2 minutes and 15 seconds. Winners of the competition are awarded the Chairman’s Award, the highest honor given in the regional and final competitions. Visit www.robotics.hawaii.gov/first for an overview of this year’s robotics competition.
“Larry Labuyo,” designed and programmed by the Philippine Science High School Team, is the manifestation of their versatility, diversity and effort as a group. Standing only 4-feet tall and looking more like a piece of appliance with wheels, Larry, however, is equipped with a keen eyesight to “see” its environment and its opponents as well as an advance software that allows Larry to move autonomously in the slippery surface of the game area.
Science Education Institute (SEI) Director Ester Ogena proudly stated that the Philippine Team is the only entry from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). “We went ahead and picked the Filipino word, ‘Lagablab’, as the Filipino term for flame, burning strong and bright, and ‘Labuyo’, a wild rooster native to the country, or hot chili, not only to identify us as Filipinos but to give impact to the name and purpose of our participation.”
The Philippine Consulate General is very confident that Team Lagablab and their robot, Larry Labuyo, are at par with the teams from the international community and enjoins the Filipino Community to extend their full support to the success of the Philippine Team.
END
23 March 2009
FIRST – For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, is a US-based organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen in 1989 aimed at inspiring young people’s interest and participation in science and technology
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