Robots are not just in movies!

Robots come in so many shapes and sizes, that sometimes, you don’t notice them. Most robots today are invented to help us do something simple. The science and art of making robots are so advanced these days that robots can now do many things. Some can greet you with a “Good morning” even when you haven’t greeted them. That means they can ‘sense’ you.

Yee Jun helping a student design a robot hand.

Young inventors Khong Yee Jun, and his younger brother Khong Yee Jian are both just crazy over robots.

The Khong brothers started building robots when they were in primary school. They also entered many local and international robotics competitions and have done Malaysia proud by winning some of these competitions.

Let’s see. Here’s a list of robots that they have made.

MIBO (Malaysian-Identified-Bipedal-Object)

This robot has a long name. It was built using 700 parts to move like a human being and perform a gymnastic ribbon routine. The MIBO was entered into the World Robot Olympiad in Singapore last year and won the Excellence Award. MIBO took three months to build!

Merdeka Day Robot (MDR)

MDR was designed and built for their school’s Merdeka celebration. The robot pulled down the Merdeka banner, moved around, and even gave a short speech.

RoboTwelvean

RoboTwelvean is a robot with ‘hands’. For the school’s English Week, the brothers made the robot hold a tray carrying a book, which was presented to their headmistress, as the opening gambit. RoboTwelvean has many controls, one control for each hand, and another for the movements of its head and body.

J5

Have you seen the movie Short Circuit? If you have, then you must remember Johnny 5. Well, J5 is another version of Johnny 5 which the brothers built.

A Soccer Robot

This robot was designed and made to sense a soccer ball by using light sensors.

Cockroach Robot

This is a really creepy crawly. The Cockroach robot can sense light sources and move towards the light. And it crawls just like a cockroach.

Let’s take a look at what Creative Robotics is doing. This is where Yee Jun and Yee Jian practice and teach their skills. Creative Robotics is one of a few centres that teaches kids how to program, design, build and test the robots. At the end of the lesson, robots are put to the test in a competition. The fastest, most accurate robot wins.

This is an insect-like robot with feelers.

This ladybug robot senses light and moves towards the source.This robot can walk on uneven terrain.Kidz choose many different parts to make one robot.Kidz use the computer to design their robots at Creative Robotics.

Let’s take a look at what Creative Robotics is doing. This is where Yee Jun and Yee Jian practice and teach their skills. Creative Robotics is one of a few centres that teaches kids how to program, design, build and test the robots. At the end of the lesson, robots are put to the test in a competition. The fastest, most accurate robot wins.