SEAMEO QITEP in Science facilitated the Al-Ma’soem Science Community of Al-Ma’soem Junior High School to participate in the 18th Guangxi Adolescent Robot Competition and the ASEAN National Adolescent Robot Invitational Tournament, representing Indonesia. The event was held in Wuzhou Hydoo International Expo Centre, Wuzhou, Guangxi Province, China, from 24 to 27 May 2019. The event was hosted by Guangxi Science and Technology Centre, in collaboration with the Education Department of Guangxi Autonomous Region and Wuzhou Municipal People’s Government.
The event was aimed to let the teenager combine hands-on activity with real-world situation through robot competition. It is expected that they can discover ways to solve problems and cultivate their technological innovation and hands-on ability, so that they can better adapt to the trend of scientific and technical development in the 21st century, and encourage more teenagers to study, explore, research and practice as far as they can in the high-tech field such as information and technology, automatic control, and robotics. This event could also arouse their interest in science and improve their science quality. The event was divided into two competition categories namely VEX robotics competition and First Lego League (FLL). The Indonesian delegates competed in the FLL which also contested by delegates from Cambodia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
The first day, all the international delegates were invited to attend the technical meeting and also the preparation for the opening ceremony. The event was officially opened by the curator of Guangxi Science and Technology Museum, followed by the speech by the vice mayor of Wuzhou municipality. The Indonesian delegates represented by Mr Zuhe Safitra of SEAQIS as a coach, Mr Rahman Hakim of Al-Ma’soem Junior High School as a coach, M. Ghifran Rayahi Azfa, M. Agung Prasetyo, M. Ryan Adibangsawan, Abynaya Mulya Prabowo, and Mahzan Rizky Syabani of Al-Ma’soem Junior High School as participants.
Each team had two attempts to finish the tasks provided by the juries. There were 15 tasks including four mandatory tasks that should be completed by each team, otherwise, their total score would be subtracted by the scores of the mandatory tasks. The modules of each task were provided by the event organizer while each team brought their own robot, and programmed it on the spot before the competition started. The competition day was divided into two sessions. The morning session was used for recording and practicing, then the afternoon session was for the competition. In the evening, all the ASEAN delegates had a fellowship program conducted by the Education Office of Wuzhou in Wuzhou No. 8 Senior High School. Each delegate performed traditional dance, and the Indonesian delegates presented the Sajojo Dance, a traditional dance from Papua.
At the end of the competition, all the ASEAN delegates were awarded a Friendship Award. Then, the delegates were taken to Nanning visiting Guangxi Science and Technological Museum and Fantawild Asian Legend.