TARCians who call themselves Green Warriors, Jeffrey Chow Sai Wai (leftmost) and Tan Yi Lun (centre), celebrating their victory with their mentor and lecturer, Assoc Prof Ts Dr Tew (rightmost)
Yi Lun (standing at the lectern in black shirt) answering questions posed by a judge during the presentation event.
Another TAR UMT – Industry collaboration that produced positive results is the Advantech Artificial Intelligence Internet of Things (AIOT) Developer Innoworks Programme, which ran from August to November 2022. Industry partner Advantech Co. Malaysia Sdn Bhd collaborated with TAR UMT to pave the way for TAR UMT students to undergo specific training modules of Advantech before proceeding to develop relevant and useful industry projects which have the potential to be adopted in the industries. The final leg of this programme culminated in the final presentation of students’ projects in front of a panel of judges comprising leaders from Advantech, government officials and relevant industry experts.
TAR UMT’s team Green Warrior comprising Tan Yi Lun and Jeffrey Chow Sai Wai took the Best Team award with their project on ‘Environmental Education with Autonomous Robot’. “Based on our research, we learnt that one of the main causes of environmental pollution is the lack of environmental education and the fundamental of environmental education is learning how to separate waste. We identified the younger generation as our main target for this project because based on our research, this segment of society lacks environmental awareness especially on managing waste and how it impacts the environment. With AI in the picture, we hope this would be an effective education tool for the younger generation to learn about doing their part for the environment,” Yi Lun explained.
“The concept of this project is simple. Rubbish that is placed on a conveyor belt will be detected by a programmed robot using Live Object Detection. Then, by using Object Recognition to properly categorise the type of waste, the robot will use coordinated movements to categorise the waste into specific recycling bins. The whole process is a learning experience for people to know how rubbish is categorised and how to properly dispose of it,” Jeffrey shared.
Although faced with many challenges such as time constraints and several trials and errors, the duo appreciated the whole experience of undergoing the programme. “The benefits certainly outweigh the challenges we went through. We had the chance to use the Advantech platform which mainly focuses on various types of cloud computing services such as a real-time dashboard and database. We also learnt a lot about time management, working in a team, dealing and communicating with industry experts on improvements to our project, and convincing a panel of judges why our idea is industry-worthy. In addition, this achievement boosts our portfolios and our self-confidence that with hard work and focus, we can conquer new challenges. We are grateful to our lecturer, Assoc Prof Ts Dr Tew Yiqi who strongly encouraged us to participate in this programme. He knew we would gain valuable experiences such as problem-solving and interacting with industry professionals and both of us are appreciative of his guidance and support,” the two students expressed.
To view the video of this project, click here
