By DayakDaily Team
MIRI, Sept 15: A shaky start at the National Robotics Competition (NRC) 2026 left a team of SMK Chung Hua Miri students fearing they had blown their chances, but a strong comeback saw them finish second and earn a place at the World Robot Olympiad (WRO) in Puerto Rico.
According to TVS, the RoboMission Pro Secondary School team comprising Dexter Yong Shawn, Keith Lee Yee Hern and Chloe Kiu Wei Han secured the runner-up position at the national-level competition held at INTI International University, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, from Sept 6 to 10.
The team’s journey to the podium was far from straightforward, with an inconsistent robot and several mistakes during testing leaving them uncertain about their chances after the first day.
“We did not expect to get second place because our robot was still not very consistent during preparation and we made many mistakes during the testing sessions,” Dexter said.
However, the team managed to turn things around on the following day, recovering from the difficult start to climb the standings and secure second place.
“On the first day, we thought we had made a big mistake, but we managed to bounce back and catch up until we got second place and qualified to represent Malaysia at the WRO in Puerto Rico,” he said.
The team also had to contend with a slippery competition map, which affected the robot’s stability and caused some elements of the challenge to shift from their intended positions.
The students responded by making technical adjustments, including reducing or modifying the robot’s speed to improve its movement and stability on the competition surface.
Their runner-up finish was one of several strong performances by SMK Chung Hua Miri at NRC 2026.
The school’s RoboSports Double Tennis team comprising Sim Zhi Yang, Varick Yong Yu Heng and Jason Voon Qing Rui emerged champions, while its Future Innovators Secondary School team of Deborah Liau Song Ling, Lee Jia Qian and Ong Chi Hui finished runner-up.
The RoboMission Pro Primary School team comprising Chieng Siew Jing Warren, Kieran Chia Yuen Soong and Wilson Voon Qing Ye also secured third place.
For Sim, the RoboSports Double Tennis title was the result of months of preparation, with the team beginning its preparations in December last year and using smaller competitions as practice before focusing on NRC 2026.
“We trained every afternoon and sometimes until night. If there were problems, we would immediately fix and upgrade the robot before continuing our training,” he said.
One of the biggest challenges during the competition was adapting to the significantly more slippery map surface compared with the one used during training at school.
The team spent several hours adjusting the robot to ensure it could perform effectively under the unexpected conditions.
Meanwhile, the Future Innovators team faced a separate technical setback when an internet connection problem disrupted access to its project website during the first judging round.
The issue was resolved before the second round, allowing the team’s robot to function as planned.
The school’s younger RoboMission Pro team also underwent extensive preparation, taking about six months to develop its robot and programming after the competition rules were introduced in January.
Team member Kieran said the students also prepared alternative solutions to deal with possible problems during the competition.
Although the team had targeted first place, its third-place finish provided valuable experience to improve its robot ahead of future competitions.
With a place at the WRO in Puerto Rico secured, the RoboMission Pro Secondary School team will now focus on improving its robot’s consistency, refining its performance and gaining further experience before facing competitors from around the world. — DayakDaily
