The Robotique Society from Universiti Kuala Lumpur Malaysia France Institute (UniKL MFI) defied the odds to claim the championship title at the Perak International Robot Competition, triumphing over more than 900 participants.
One of the team members, Farith Ikmal Azman, shared that just the night before the competition, their robot experienced a malfunction with its left-side DC motor.
Despite the setback, the team went on to win the Robot Sumo (3kg RC Category), competing against strong contenders from Indonesia.
“As a result, we stayed awake until 6 a.m., brainstorming and working to solve the issue.
On the day of the competition, one of our other teams was eliminated early, which allowed us to replace our robot’s damaged motor with the motor from the eliminated team’s robot,” said Farith Ikmal, a Robotics and Automation student.
“This gave me the opportunity to repair our robot on the same day and compete as planned,” he added. Farith Ikmal teamed up with Muhammad Shukri Hasni, a Mechanical Engineering student, under the team name 9’CER.
The Robotique Society Club is supervised by Dr. Siti Norhafiza, who serves as the Club Advisor and Deputy Dean of Student Development and Campus Lifestyle (SDCL) at UniKL MFI. The team was also mentored by Husin Hamdan, Treasurer of the Robotique Society Club.
Farith Ikmal and Muhammad Shukri were among five teams from UniKL MFI that participated in the competition, which took place from 25 to 27 April 2025 at Pusat Latihan Teknologi Tinggi (ADTEC) Taiping Campus.
“Our robot design was named ‘Old School Style’ because it is based on a classic concept that has long been used in sumo robot competitions, yet remains highly effective today,” said Farith.
He explained that the unique feature of their robot lies in its front design — equipped with a sharp blade and a smooth, curved shape — which enables it to flip over opponents’ robots and secure victories.
“Our main strategy during the competition was to study the opponent’s movements and play defensively. We waited for the opponent to make a mistake and only then launched our attack,” he further elaborated.
The international-level competition attracted more than 900 entries across various categories, with participants from countries including Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Japan, and Mexico.
