Talented robot makers fear unemployment<\/p>\n
Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
How many youngsters do you know who are capable of building an
\nautomatic robot that can find its own way towards a preset goal,
\nreach three baskets suspended from scaffolds and throw balls into
\nall three with unerring precision?<\/p>\n
That's one automatic robot. Now, try making another two, plus
\na manually operated one that can shoot balls into the baskets
\nfrom a distance after first picking them up from the floor. And
\nall that on a limited budget of only Rp 4 million (approximately
\nUS$464).<\/p>\n
Sounds hard?<\/p>\n
Last week 32 teams of youngsters from all over the country
\nproved it can be done, with one team coming out of the contest as
\nthe best of them all. They are living proof that Indonesian
\nyoungsters, too, given the chance, are capable of making such
\nsophisticated machines and should be considered as among the
\ncountry's finest assets.<\/p>\n
However, although building a robot may be nothing out of the
\nordinary to them, getting a job is not as simple. At least that
\nis what Hasan Habibi said.<\/p>\n
Habibi is a member of the winning team in the 2003 Indonesian
\nRobot Competition held in Jakarta last week. His team's robot was
\nnamed A.I.sya, or Mobile Artificial Intelligence -- and sya
\nmeaning mobile in Japanese. Although he and his teammates, as
\nlast week's contest winners, are entitled to represent Indonesia
\nin the Asia-Pacific Robot Competition in Bangkok this coming
\nAugust, he is not so sure about his future.<\/p>\n
"Winning a robot competition does not mean it will be easy for
\nme to get a job after I graduate," the 20-year-old student said.
\nHe said he took part in the competition with no real goal in
\nmind, but just to fill his spare time and for the mere fun of it.
\nHe admitted, nevertheless, that his preference for spending his
\ntime with high-tech tidbits was unusual. In Surabaya, where he
\nlives, however, such a hobby is popular and considered quite
\nprestigious.<\/p>\n
That is no wonder, because the annual robot competition has
\nbeen held in the East Java provincial capital since it started
\nfour years ago, and Habibi's alma mater, Polyteknik Sepuluh
\nNovember Institute of Technology (ITS) is the city's champion on
\nsuch matters. Teams from ITS have won competitions for four years
\nin a row, and in 2001 they also won an International Robot
\nCompetition in Japan.<\/p>\n
Habibi said that to become a winner and follow in his
\npredecessor's footsteps was not easy, because building a robot
\nrequires hard work and, most of all, solid teamwork. He was
\ngrateful that his team was solid and all his mates were devoted
\nto their work. So devoted, in fact, that one of the members had
\nto be hospitalized for four days because of dehydration.<\/p>\n
Building A.I.sya on a limited budget was a unique challenge
\nthat involved, among other things, finding affordable parts and
\nmaterials even before the robot could be designed, he said. Given
\nthat particular obstacle, days before the competition started
\nthey still had no viable fixed design, so they made a flexible
\none.<\/p>\n
That limitation, however, turned out to be an advantage
\nbecause they had found a design that allowed modification right
\nup to the minute before the match. As a result, A.I.sya became
\nthe winner.<\/p>\n
Habibi said that the competition would attract more
\nparticipants if the prize had been, for example, a job with a
\ngood company.<\/p>\n
"I believe that such a prize would lure more youngsters to
\nparticipate in the competition, especially those who are smarter
\nthan I do," he said. There are many students smarter than he is,
\nhe said, but they passed the opportunity to join the competition
\nbecause they were all concentrating on find a job immediately
\nafter graduation.<\/p>\n
Dadet Pramadihanto, coach of the winning team, told The
\nJakarta Post that such a competition was very important because
\nit showed the public the real potential of Indonesia's human
\nresources.<\/p>\n
"Industrialists can see, through this competition, that
\nIndonesian youngsters are capable of designing complicated robots
\nthat prove to be even better than those designed by foreign
\nstudents," he said, referring to the championships of 2001, when
\na team from the same Surabaya institute won the International
\nRobot Competition in Koriyama, Japan, organized by NHK TV
\nstation. The winning robot in that competition was called "B-
\nCak".<\/p>\n
Dadet said that greater attention for such competitions was
\nneeded from all parties involved, including the government,
\nindustrialists and the public, in order to promote creativity
\namong Indonesian youngsters and to reach even better
\naccomplishments in the future.<\/p>\n
"This competition definitely boosts the creativity of
\nstudents," he said. At the end of the day, such competitions
\nwould raise the bargaining power of the students in applying for
\njobs.<\/p>\n
Kadek, a participant from Banjarmasin State Polytechnic, South
\nKalimantan, agreed with Dadet saying that being a contestant
\nwould increase his chances of finding a job. Furthermore, he
\nhoped that some industrialists could see the performance of his
\nteam's "product" and that it would inspire them to ask the team
\nto make robots for their respective companies.<\/p>\n
"We have proved ourselves to possess an ability to build
\nrobots that are as good as those of our colleagues in Java," said
\nKadek, whose team's robot, B-Kantan, won a prize for Best Design
\nlast week.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Arkhadi Pustaka, a member of the runner-up team
\nfrom Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta, said that his
\nteam's motivation was more to encourage his younger classmates to
\nparticipate in the competition next year.<\/p>\n
"This is the first time UGM has participated. We have no
\ntarget so far. It's a hobby and we basically did it just for fun
\nand ultimately it make be a fine line in our curriculum vitae,"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
At least that was what they can say for now as students.
\nHowever, one of the "B-Cak" designers, a humble young man named
\nEko Henfri, who has just graduated from the D-4 diploma program
\nat ITS, told the Post that he was currently considering to apply
\nfor a job.<\/p>\n
Anyone interested in employing such a fine national asset? The
\ngovernment, maybe?<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/talented-robot-makers-fear-unemployment-1447893297",
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