The future is here, and it’s rolling in on track treads and servo motors. Committed to building towards this vision, Robolympics 2025 celebrates the unceasing forward march of innovation and the curious minds that shape it. This July, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers – De La Salle University Chapter (SME – DLSU) is bringing back its flagship event to gather the brightest young minds all over the country. Still focusing on strategy and teamwork, this year’s event promises to be the stepping-stone of next-generation engineering talent.
Hot on the heels of Robolympics 2024, where over 29 teams from different high schools duked it out on the arena, this year’s Robolympics will bring back these classic but challenging events: line tracing, sumobot, and robot football. Once again, students won’t just be solving problems on paper—they’ll be building real machines to meet objectives under pressure.
Line tracing is a test of precision. Here, students design robots equipped with sensors that must follow a complex black line path on a white surface. What appears simple on the surface reveals deeper engineering questions: How do you program efficient turns? How do you handle broken lines or intersections? Winning bots will demonstrate clean code, tight turning radii, and consistent sensor calibration.
Thereafter, the sumobot competition will turn up the intensity. Two robots will face off in a ring and attempt to push each other out, much like a miniature version of sumo wrestling. Students will once more be tested: this time, they’ll have to balance speed and power with defensive strategies. Too fast, and the bot might fling itself out of the ring; too slow, and it’ll be pushed aside. Success often lies in clever design—this means low centers of gravity, strategically placed sensors, and well-timed movement scripts.
The third and most dynamic event is robot football, where teams will control multiple robots to dribble, pass, and shoot a small ball into the opponent’s goal. It’s chaotic, fast-paced, and intensely collaborative. Robot football demands not just individual bot performance, but coordination between units. Students must be able to oversee real-time control, wireless communication, and field positioning—all while adapting to their opponents’ unpredictable moves.
Adding depth to this year’s program are four featured speakers to bring both academic and industry experience to the stage. Dr. Andres Philip Mayol will present on the rebranding of Mechatronics Engineering. He’ll offer fresh perspectives regarding the field’s continuous evolution in the face of Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing, and how students can position themselves to benefit from these changes.
Complementing this, Engr. Alexandra Oropesa, a proud alumna of the program, will share her development in her professional journey. Moreover, she’ll offer valuable testimony on how robotics has helped shape her career path.
Meanwhile, Engr. Richard Josiah Tan Ai will present a live demonstration of the Annin Robotics AR4 robo arm to show its flexibility, how it can find application in the educational and industrial fields. Similarly, Mark Angelo Lubreza, a BS-MS student of the program, will conduct a Dobot robotic arm demonstration, providing an up-close look at one of the most popular training tools in modern robot education.
Robolympics 2025 will be held on July 9 and 11 at the Pardo Hall (located on the 5th floor of the Henry Sy Sr. Hall) of De La Salle University. Students, educators, families, and tech professionals are all invited to witness the next generation of Filipino engineers in action.
With the clatter of robots, the hum of sensors, and the roar of students as their ideas come to life, Robolympics 2025 proves one thing: the future isn’t just coming, it’s already being built.
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