Third Phil-LiDAR 2 Luzon Cluster Colloquium conducted

On its third year of implementation, the Phil-LiDAR 2 program also held its third Luzon Cluster Colloquium on March 9-11, 2015 in Naga City, Camarines Sur. This year’s colloquium was hosted by the Ateneo De Naga University Phil-LiDAR 2 team and attended by different Project Leaders and their research personnel from the participating Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) from Luzon.

The Phil-LiDAR 2 program is one of the offshoot projects of the Disaster Risk and Exposure Assessment for Mitigation (DREAM) program and was launched by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in 2014. It aims to map out the natural resources of the country particularly agriculture, coastal, forest and rivers, and potential areas for renewable energy production through the use of Light Detection and Ranging System (LiDAR). With the complexity associated in developing a nationwide resource mapping system, the participating HEIs and SUCs under the program were convened again to harmonize and share best practices among the different project components.

In his welcome remarks, Engr. Raul C. Sabularse, Deputy Executive Director of the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) commended the output of the program. As of December 2015, 166 resource maps were produced (agricultural, coastal, forest, hydrological and renewable energy) and distributed to local government units and national government agencies. “I trust that with all these successes and accomplishments that you have achieved in the last two years, you will continue to give significant contributions to the communities and society in various aspects at the end of the program” Sabularse noted.

Dr. Ariel C. Blanco, program leader of Phil-LiDAR 2 also said in his message that this colloquium will give unique opportunities for the team because a training was done on the second day of the event. “I hope that during this capacity-building colloquium, we will increase the level of collaboration among the researches as well as the ­­accuracy of our products” Blanco emphasized.

Engr. Raul C. Sabularse, Deputy Executive Director of PCIEERD and Dr. Ariel C. Blanco, program leader of Phil-LiDAR 2 while giving their messages to the participants of the colloquium.

On the first day of the colloquium, project presenters from seven HEIs in Luzon under the Phil-LiDAR 2 program delivered updates from their projects and shared practices as reference. The HEIs are as follows: University of the Philippines-Diliman, Mariano Marcos State University, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Isabela State University, Central Luzon State University, Mapua Institute of Technology, and Ateneo de Naga University. Some of the updates they shared were on the improvement of their workflows and methodologies in data processing and field validation surveys for each resource component. Mentoring and clarification regarding the problems encountered by each attending HEI were also tackled in the open forum.

During the second day of the colloquium, four parallel activities were held: UAV/GNSS Surveying, Spectrometry and Matlab training. All four events were simultaneously held at the ADNU campus.

In closing, participating HEIs representatives shared their insights and testimonials on the held two-day colloquium.  “We are now in a critical milestone because the program is now on the nearing end. This colloquium gave us a venue to learn, improve, and benchmark with our partner HEIs to ensure that we will deliver the accurate output to our stakeholders” shared Lawrence David of Mapua Institute of Technology Phil-LiDAR 2 team.

The Phil-LiDAR 2 program is being monitored by PCIEERD and is funded by DOST.

TAAL LAKE, TALISAY, BATANGAS- Batangas State University (BatSU) successfully launched and demonstrated on February 4, 2016 its Tactical Operative Amphibious Drive or TOAD, a vehicle that can be maneuvered both in land and water.

TOAD is a low cost amphibious vehicle designed by the research team of BatSU headed by their president, Dr. Tirso A. Ronquillo. Ronquillo said that TOAD is durable and rust resistant and manoeuvrable in open water navigation with up to six (6) person capacity. It is powered by two four-stroke engines and can be tracked electronically. He said further that TOAD was developed with the support from DOST-PCIEERD Regional Consortia Program and the guidance of DOST Regional Office 4 to address disaster and emergency response operations in flood prone areas.

Engr. Albert Mariño, DOST-PCIEERD Chief Senior Science Specialist attended the activity on behalf of DOST-PCIEERD Executive Director Carlos Primo David. He said that the PCIEERD Regional Consortia intends to accelerate regional development through collaborations among the member institutions from academe like BatSu. “DOST-PCIEERD will continue to support research projects like TOAD to capacitate emerging research progress of SUCs in the region.” Mariño added.

 Dr. Tirso Ronquillo, President of Batangas State Univerisity and Engr. Albert Mariño, Chief Science Research Specialist, DOST PCIEERD during the launching.

TOAD roving around the Taal Lake, Talisay, Batangas

The inauguration was led by Dr. Carlos Primo David, PCIEERD Executive Director (3^rd from left) and Mr. Carlos Jose P. Gatmaitan, the President and CEO of PNOC Renewable Corp (4^th from left). Also in photo are (from left): Engr. Nonilo Peña, Chief of Energy and Utilities Systems Technology Development Division, Engr. Raul Sabularse, Deputy Executive Director, Dir. Ralph Pastor A. Salazar, Director, PNOC-Exploration Corp.

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) through the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) officially inaugurated the 100 kW solar PhotoVoltaic (PV) rooftop on January 22, 2015.

The project is in line with the government’s goal to promote the use of renewable energy resources like solar power. DOST-PCIEERD partnered with PNOC RC where a 100 kW solar PV was installed at the rooftop of the Science Heritage Building, DOST Complex, Bicutan, Taguig City. The building is occupied by three DOST attached agencies, DOST-PCIEERD, DOST-Science Education Institute (SEI), and DOST-National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST).

Currently, the Science Heritage Building consumes around 1,700kWh of electricity per day. The newly installed solar PV system is said to potentially reduce about 10% of the power supplied by MERALCO. Occupying almost 600 square meters of rooftop area of the building, a total of 378 solar panels rated at 270 watts each were installed. The solar PV is estimated to generate daily average of 170 kWh per day for the whole year. 

The PNOC RC has a service contract with the DOST to operate and maintain the solar PV system for 15 years. Throughout this time, the electricity generated from the solar PV will cost only PhP 9.50/kWh flat rate. The solar PV system will be then be transferred to the DOST after the service contract of 15 years. (Jachin Jane Aberilla)

Solar panels rated at 270 watts each installed at the rooftop of Science Heritage Building

January 13, 2016 marked a milestone in the country’s bid to develop its space program with DIWATA, the first all-Filipino assembled microsatellite. DIWATA was turned over to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to prepare its launch to space in April. With DIWATA, comes the Filipino dream to have its own Philippine Space Agency. 

Officials of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), UP Diliman, Tohoku University (TU), and Hokkaido University (HU) will be doing the handover at 10am today following the completion of the assembly and testing of the 50-kg Philippine Earth Observation Microsatellite set to be released into space from the International Space Station (ISS) in April 2016.

The Philippine Microsatellite Program

Recognizing the advantages of using satellite-based remote sensing, the government invested in the construction and launching of the Philippine Scientific Earth Observation Micro-Satellite, under the PHL-MICROSAT or DIWATA Program with a total budget of P800 million for 3 years. DIWATA is the country’s first micro-satellite designed, developed and assembled by Filipino researchers and engineers under the guidance of Japanese experts in Hokkaido and Tohoku Universities. It is geared to provide real-time images for disaster risk management and other applications.

Seven (7) engineering students from the University of the Philippines and two (2) science researchers from DOST’s Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI) were sent to Tohoku and Hokkaido universities in Japan as part of the PHL-MICROSAT program to work on the microsatellite bus system and payload design while pursuing advanced degrees.

The Bus Development Team worked on the design, implementation and testing of various structural, mechanical and electrical aspects of the microsatellite bus. The electrical subsystems, in particular, include the power supply, computing and communication blocks, software programming, attitude control and the science payload interface or handling unit.

The Payload and Mission Design Team on the other hand, contributed to the science mission analysis and objectives that lead to the specifications of the payload sensors and instruments. The team studied the technical specifications of the payload instruments towards proper testing and calibration of its outputs. It is also engaged in the processing of the raw data from the sensors towards valuable high-level end products or images. Both teams are also involved in understanding the design and operational details of the ground station for controlling the microsatellite and for receiving its data.

 The Tohoku Team: (from left) Julian Marvick Oliveros, Ariston N. Gonzales, Brian Paler (ASTI), John Leur Labrador, Gerwin Guba (ASTI) and Juan Paolo Espiritu.

The Hokkaido Team: (from left) Japanese expert Mr. Tetsuro Ishida, UP Engineering students Kaye Kristine Vergel, Delburg Mitchao, Benjamin Magallon. Also in photo are Dr. Carlos Primo C. David , Executive Director, PCIEERD, the DOST monitoring agency of the Microsat Project, Dr. Joel Joseph S. Marciano, PHL-MICROSAT Program Leader, PHL-Microsat Program, and also Japanese consultants Prof. Yukihiro Takahashi and and Dr. Junichi Kurihara.

These efforts resulted to the development and integration of the bus system with its payload instruments into a microsatellite, now known as "Diwata". The microsatellite was subjected to different parametric and functionality tests, including shock and vibration, off-gas, fit-check and post-vibration electrical tests. The final assembly and the final vibration test on Diwata were done last December 2015.

Within the 3-year program is the development of the second microsatellite or DIWATA 2 to be launched in 2017.
The PHL-MICROSAT team also intends to develop course and training materials on small satellite technology design and testing, which are proposed to be incorporated into science and engineering undergraduate and postgraduate elective courses as well as for local industry short seminars. A microsatellite simulator and testbed, antenna design and testing facility and amateur radio satellite station are also currently being set up as part of the establishment of the local Microsatellite Research and Instructional facility within UP Diliman.

For the rest of the PHL-MICROSAT team working at UP Diliman, continuing activities are focused on the development of the Ground Receiving Station (GRS) that will allow space borne images to be transmitted to earth for use in various scientific and civilian applications. It can also be used to control and transmit commands from the ground to the microsatellite to carry out is mission effectively.

The benefits of having our own satellite

DIWATA-1 is a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite set to fly 400km above the earth. It serves as a training platform and pave the way for the Filipino team to further develop their skills in space technology.

But more than this, the potential uses of Diwata’s images include improved weather detection and forecasts, disaster risk management, detecting agricultural growth patterns, monitoring of the forest cover, mining, protection of cultural and historical sites, and the territorial borders of the Philippines Through its sensor, Diwata will be sending vital images and data back to Philippine Earth Data Resources and Observation (PEDRO) Center which was set up to receive data from the satellite.

DIWATA 1 is equipped with a High Precision Telescope (HPT) that can determine the extent of damages from disasters, like typhoons and volcanic eruptions. It can also monitor changes in cultural and natural heritage sites, like the Mount Apo or Mayon Volcano.

Its Spaceborne Multispectral Imager with LCTF will be able to monitor changes in vegetation and monitor oceans productivity.

It also carries a Wide Field Camera that will help scientists and weather forecasters tp better observe cloud patterns and more accurately predict weather disturbances. Its Middle Field Camera assists in determining the locations of images captured using the HPT and SMI.

The Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development of the DOST is the monitoring agency of the PHL-Microsat Program. (Maria Elena A. Talingdan, DOST-PCIEERD)
(include time lapse video)

The Chemical Sensors for Mine Site Monitoring Program demonstrated its capabilities and operation of its fully tested and field-deployable prototype sensor system during its program showcase on 15 January 2016 at the Ateneo De Manila University. The Program is a two-year program, funded and monitored by DOST-PCIEERD, which aims to develop local sensor tools that will allow real-time monitoring of the status of the environment in the mine site area. The Program has developed the following senso