Repeated feat: Tec robotics team comes first in Brazilian competition

RoBorregos, a robotics team from the Monterrey campus, has won first place in the Open category of the Latin American Robotics Competition (LARC) in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil.

The team won first place for the second time; they have now participated in this competition four times and have always made it to the podium.

This time, the challenge was to develop an intelligent storage system in which a robot had to identify a package labeled with a letter or number and put it in the right place.

“We have learned how to adapt to the pace of robotics competitions so as to be able to make strategy-based decisions to increase our chances of winning,” remarked Adán Flores, the team’s programmer.

The team that represented Mexico in the Open category comprised:

• Adán Flores, mechatronics engineering student
• José Benvenuto, engineering student in digital business transformation.
• Emiliano Flores, robotics and digital systems engineering student
• Jesus de Anda, mechanical engineering student
• Diego Prado, mechatronics engineering student

RoBorregos at the LARC

The LARC is a competition organized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) that aims to promote robotics-based solutions to real industrial problems.

Starting in early 2023, the students began designing and building a robot from scratch to participate in the Mexican Robotics Tournament in Veracruz.

“Competing nationally enabled us to identify areas of opportunity we hadn’t contemplated for the robot,” said Jesús de Anda, the team’s mechanic.

The team from the Monterrey campus won first place in the Open category in this national tournament.

“It is very satisfying to see our efforts being recognized,” added De Anda.

“We didn’t take part in the competition solely on our own merits. The work of many people made it possible.” Emiliano Flores

Participating in robotics competitions like the LARC has greatly impacted the professional and personal lives of the RoBorregos team members.

“I started to see the impossible as possible and it motivated me to continue doing what I love,” said José Benvenuto, who is in charge of the robot’s artificial vision.

During the competition, the robot’s capabilities were demonstrated to the general public who visited the complex.

“We realized that it’s not just about promoting robotics in schools, but also about growing the robotics community by getting families involved,” explained Diego Prado, a member of the team.

“That perspective gives us a model to follow to encourage the growth of the robotics community in Mexico,” added Adán Flores.

A successful track record

RoBorregos has participated in the LARC before and has always won a place on the podium:

• First place in the “LARC IEEE Open Challenge” 2018 (João Pessoa, Brazil)
• Third place in the “LARC IEEE Open Challenge” 2017 (Brazil)
• Second place in the “LARC IEEE Open Challenge” 2016 (Recife, Brazil)

Winning first place for the second time and being the only Mexican team in the Open category has motivated the community to continue developing and promoting robotics in Tec de Monterrey and Mexico.

The team credit this year’s achievement to their unremitting hard work and the support of team advisor Professor Carlos Vazquez; they also acknowledge the support of their sponsor Noah iTech and RoBorregos and RoBorregos Legacy members.

“We didn’t take part in the competition solely on our own merits. The work of many people made it possible and it’s wonderful to pay them back with first place,” said Emiliano Flores, the team’s programmer.

The students agreed that the achievement has motivated them to continue developing robots for future competitions.

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