Kudos: FKP ROBOTICS OPEN DAY 2017 organized by FKP UTeM, Cytron, IEEE RAS Malaysia and Robopreneur Sdn Bhd on 8th March 2017

Assalamualaikum and good day to all,

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious and the Most Merciful. Alhamdulillah, all praises to Allah for the strengths and His blessings for our team to be able to organize this event.

The first FKP Robotics Open Day was successfully organized by the Department of Robotics and Automation, Faculty of Manufacturing Engineering (FKP), UTeM on Wednesday 8th March 2017 with the official theme “Robotics is Fun!”. This event was proudly co-sponsored by Cytron Technologies Sdn. Bhd., IEEE RAS Malaysia and Robopreneur Sdn. Bhd. 

The program includes three main events: the Robo-Speech Express (RoSE), exhibition and Robotics Explorace. These activities were planned with the aim to promote fun and excitement in robotics through various exciting activities. The main goal was to instill passion regarding robotics technology to the society, particularly UTeM students and children in Melaka. The open day received 19 participants for RoSE and 36 participants for Robotics Explorace. Around 200 visitors from five different schools nearby UTeM, children from UTeM kindergarten, UTeM students and staffs also came for the robotics and automation exhibition.

In the morning, the program kicked-off with doa recital, followed by a welcoming speech from the program co-ordinator (yours truly). At 10.30 a.m, Robo-Speech Express (RoSE) competition began. In this competition, each participant need to deliver their speech within 3 minutes on any topics related to robotics. Here, we would like to congratulate and thank all participants for their courageous effort and participation. It was pleasing to see so many enthusiastic students presenting their speech. The judges were very impressed by the high quality good delivery skills presented by the participants. The participants acknowledged that it was not easy to stand in front of a large audience and deliver a speech. 

In parallel to RoSE, the poster and project exhibition started and visitors start to flood the FKP lobby. There were total 12 posters showcased by postgraduate students from the Department of Robotics and Automation FKP and 6 projects displayed by FKP Mechatronics Laboratory. Moreover, the exhibition also witnessed the participation of companies supplying robots, robotic components and training; Robopreneur Sdn. Bhd., Akademi DS and Prosine Sdn. Bhd. Before lunch time, a lucky draw session took place with prizes sponsored by Cytron Technologies Sdn. Bhd. 

During the afternoon session, Robotics Explorace began. Nine teams (4 students per team) from various faculties in UTeM took part in this game where game where teams need to go around doing different robotic-inspired tasks to win. Before the game, a short briefing was held to give information on the path, clues, penalty and total number of tasks to be completed. Each team was required to complete five different tasks located in five different checkpoints. The checkpoints were the Robotics Laboratory, Control System Laboratory, Mechatronics Laboratory, Computer Integrated Manufacturing Laboratory and FKP assembly area. For any groups who failed to perform any of their tasks, they need to return back to starting point and accept penalty in order for them to advance to the next assignment. All teams had an enjoyable time in the race and learning about the robots that are available in FKP laboratories.

Finally, the program ended with the closing ceremony at 4.30 pm. The ceremony started with the officiating speech by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd Rizal bin Salleh, Dean of FKP, UTeM. In his speech, the dean encouraged all the participants to actively take part in activities outside the classroom and this Open Day program was a good platform for that. Besides learning about robotics, students have had the opportunity to enhance their soft skills by participating in the event. After prize giving ceremony, the program ended with a sunny note: happy faces for the winners of RoSE and Robotic Explorace and of course the organizing committee as seen in the group photo shoot.

Enjoy the momento pictures!