By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — The remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV), better known as a submersible, has become stuff of the movies ever since it was used in some scenes in the movie Titanic. It found huge applications in the underwater research, mining and salvaging sectors.

One Filipino company aims to be a player in this industry.

Pobletech Inc recently released the Roboteknik i100, country’s first commercial ROV, a robotic machine that can submerge to a depth of up to100 meters and be controlled via remote control box. The ROV and the control box are all connected via an umbilical cord that serves as both power and data cable for the ROV, which transmits live streaming video to a monitor on a control box.

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HERE’S a video of INQUIRER.net reporter Alex Villafania interviewing Manila Ocean Park head of sales Edwin Ventura and marketing manager Tina Mistica-Santos on the opening of the first Philippine oceanarium.

As Alex wrote in his story, the Manila Ocean Park officials hope it will eventually become a research facility for marine biologists.

Video taken by INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Erika Tapalla.

For more videos from INQUIRER.net and our partners, visit iVDO.

By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines–A world-class science museum that will be built in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City will feature both science and technology, an executive said.

A project of the Bonifacio Art Foundation Inc., the science museum will feature a “learning center” that will be both interactive and educational, said Manny Blas II, managing director of Fort Bonifacio Development Corp.

Walking distance from Bonifacio High Street, the planned science museum will house a 3,000-square meter exhibit area, a food center, a training center, among others, said Maricel Garcia, science curator of the planned museum.

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By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

A FILIPINO engineer who studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and her former civil engineering professor have devised a new and potentially effective mapping system of landslide perils of mountainous areas in the Philippines.

The landslide hazard mapping system determines an area’s landslide risks that could be used to improve building codes, zoning policies and disaster mitigation processes in a country that is hit by powerful yearly typhoons.

MIT Civil Engineer Professor Herbert Einstein and his former student Filipina Artessa Saldivar-Sali developed the new system with the northern mountain city of Baguio being its first test subject particularly due to its location and high level of precipitation.

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HAVE you always wanted to build your own robots? Well, now you can take a crack at it.

A professor of robotics at Carnegie Mellon University wants to start a do-it-yourself revolution by offering open source hardware that would allow people to create their own robots using standard parts that you buy from hardware stores.

Here’s an excerpt from the Scientific American story:

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