Young Caymanian innovators earn global recognition ahead of robotics challenge

By Christopher Tobutt

A team of young Caymanian innovators received a proud send-off at Dart’s headquarters in Camana Bay last Saturday as they prepared to represent the Cayman Islands at the first Global Challenge in South Korea next month.

Students, mentors, government leaders and supporters gathered to celebrate the achievements of the Cayman Islands National Robotics Team, which will travel this month to compete against teams from around the world in the international robotics competition.

Among those attending the farewell event were Premier André Ebanks and Education and Finance Minister Rolston Anglin, both of whom praised the students for their achievements and dedication.

The team has already secured international recognition ahead of the competition after its DumpDefender project was named a Top 5 finalist in the New Technology Experience category, placing the Cayman Islands among the leading young innovators from 81 participating countries.

While the students designed and built a competition robot to meet the requirements of the FIRST Global Challenge, team member Kayla Machingambi explained that they simultaneously developed DumpDefender as a separate project.

The autonomous vehicle, roughly the size of a child’s pushchair and mounted on large black wheels, was designed to patrol landfill sites and identify potential fire hazards before they become serious incidents.

“That’s for the New Technology Experience, a competition where we’ve been lucky enough to make it into the top five out of 81 countries,” Machingambi said.

She explained that this year’s challenge encouraged teams to develop technologies that could “detect, prevent or protect” against wildfires. The Cayman team chose to adapt the concept to address a local challenge by focusing on landfill fires.

“Dump fires are a major issue, so we decided to make it work for that,” she said.

The machine uses heat-sensing technology to identify hotspots and is capable of transmitting information back to those monitoring conditions at the site, potentially providing early warning before a fire takes hold.

The achievement drew praise from Premier André Ebanks, who congratulated the students on their remarkable success and said he was proud of what the team had accomplished.

Minister Anglin said the programme demonstrated the growing range of science and technology opportunities available to young people in Cayman.

“Cayman’s robotics is fantastic. It’s a great technology and mechanical engineering opportunity for our young people,” he said.

“We have so much opportunity in Cayman. It’s down to parents to ensure their young people are matching up their interests with opportunities available.”

The minister noted that he had attended Gamer’s Bay earlier in the day before visiting the robotics team’s farewell celebration.

“I went to Gamer’s Bay this morning, which is one element of technology, and then to come here to see this robotics team about to leave just shows how many opportunities are available,” he said.

Anglin added that Cayman continued to “punch above its weight” in creating opportunities in technology and STEM education and highlighted the planned Dart STEM Hub as an important future initiative.

“The Dart STEM Hub is going to be a huge initiative for us,” he said.

Wishing the students success in South Korea, he encouraged them to take the same qualities that helped them build their robot onto the international stage.

“I want to wish this team extremely well, and I want them to go forward with the same spirit that they had when they built the robot, the spirit of camaraderie, the spirit of being united, the spirit of ensuring they’re resilient on that day,” he said.

Dart Chief Executive Officer Joanne Lawson said the organisation was excited to support the team as it prepares to represent Cayman internationally.

“We are super-excited to represent Cayman,” she said.

Glenda McTaggart, who oversees Dart’s education programmes through Minds Inspired, said she was proud of the students and their accomplishments.

“We are very proud of the kids and really excited to be a part of this this year,” she said.

As the team prepares to depart for South Korea, its members will carry with them not only Caymanian hopes in the robotics competition itself, but also the distinction of having already earned a place among the world’s top young technology innovators through their landfill fire detection project.