SINGAPORE – As avid Lego builders, primary school pupils Skylar Chua and Elon Chan found that reading building instructions online was straining their eyes.
On top of this, the next-door neighbours were used to seeing their friends scrolling endlessly on their phones for hours.
To tackle this screen-time problem, the duo put their minds together and spent most of their Sundays for the past year building RoboBuddies – a multipurpose robot that can help sort toys and also promote healthier screen-time habits.
“We heard Prime Minister Lawrence Wong talk about this issue during the National Day Rally, and saw that a recent survey showed that parents are concerned about their children having too much screen time,” nine-year-old Elon said.
“That gave us the confidence to know that we were solving a real problem.”
Made up of more than 50 Lego parts, a camera, 3D-printed materials, wires and wheels, RoboBuddies is designed to hold phones and move back and forth to help users keep a safe viewing distance from their screen.
It measures the distance to the user and moves backwards automatically if it senses that the user’s head has moved forward.
Based on the designated screen-time limit set by the user, RoboBuddies will also turn away and give a voice-enabled reminder to take a break to maintain eye health, 11-year-old Skylar said.
Armed with their friendly robot companion, the Singaporean duo will be among 594 teams from more than 90 countries competing in the finals of the World Robot Olympiad, taking place from Nov 26 to 28.
The global competition brings together children and youth aged eight to 22 to tackle real-world challenges through creative robotic solutions.
The 2025 finals will be held at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, marking the return of the competition to Singapore 21 years after the first edition was held here.
