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Headstart School holds robotics contest

By Our Correspondent
December 07, 2019

Islamabad : The Headstart School, one of the pioneers of STEM education in the country, organised the Robowars competition on its Kuri campus under the supervision of the head of department and centre manager of the robotics programme, Saadia Habib.

Thirty teams from Headstart School, The City School, College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering - NUST, Air University, Institute of Space and Technology participated in the event bringing in unique brands of creativity, dedication, and enthusiasm.

Saadia Habib said Headstart was the only school in the country that hosted university-level robotics competitions.

“It’s an opportunity for growth and innovation, where school teams interact with university teams and compete against each other,” she said.

She said the Headstart School Robowars 2019 was the first annual event organized by the Headstart Robofort Centre for Engineering and Robotics.

According to her, the event had three competition categories, including Lego School, Lego University, and Indigenous Robots, which all were hotly contested.

The Indigenous Robots category consisted of customised robot designs built from scratch as opposed to Lego kits. Much more heavy duty and mechanically advanced than their Lego brick counterparts, these robots have to be built in workshops and are skillfully fitted with microchips to allow them to be remotely controlled. The robots were judged on their power to destroy their opponent and immobilize the other robot as efficiently as possible.

For Lego School and Lego University, the participants’ robots were pitted against each other in a circle.

The teams were challenged to create a robot, controlled by the teams via Bluetooth that could push, pull, or flip its opponent out of the circle within 45 seconds.

First, second and third place of Lego School were won by the Headstart School.

The first place was claimed by Farheen Faisal, Shiza Mustafa, Malaika Fayyaz and Zarya Kamran, second by Raheem Sultan, Zohaib Arsalan and Ibrahim Temur and third by Imaan Umer, Samah Bhatty and JiIn Kim.

The first and third place teams were all-girls teams.

Saadia Habib said Headstart had a keen focus on encouraging girls to participate in Robotics competitions and other STEM-based activities meant for a well-balanced and well-rounded education for bright young minds that are often excluded from such topics that may allow them to unlock their fullest potential.

The guest speaker was Mohsin Tiwana, an assistant professor in the Mechatronics department at CEME-NUST with research interests in tactile sensors, wireless network systems, myo-electric prostheses, and minimally invasive surgery robots.