In July 2025, teams from Kenya had the opportunity to participate in a prestigious international event held in Senegal. The competition required intensive preparation and a great deal of ingenuity and technological knowledge, which the participants proudly demonstrated to the world from July 17-19 in Dakar.
Pan-African Robotics Competition (PARC) is a premier robotics competition for youth teams across Africa and its diaspora, providing a platform to develop technical skills and innovation.
Let's take a closer look at the process and the success they ultimately achieved.
Team Kenya
Team Kenya participated in the Pan-African Robotics Competition (PARC) under the TME Education banner, proudly represented by a dynamic team from Zetech University. The team consisted of 15 students from the Department of ICT. It was mentored and guided by Kelvin, TME Education Ambassador in Kenya, who led the delegation to Senegal. The collaboration emphasized not only technical excellence but also innovation, teamwork, and Pan-African unity in advancing STEM education
Engineers League
This year, the 2025 PARC Engineers' League required participants to design and develop an autonomous system capable of efficiently applying fertilizers across large agricultural fields to boost crop yield and sustainability. This involved building software to autonomously navigate the PARC AgRobot through maize fields with varying row layouts and uneven terrain, and designing a fertilizer implement capable of optimizing fertilizer application on the maize plants. The competition was divided into two phases: the Simulation Phase and the Real-World Phase
AI League
The AI League Challenge for PARC 2025 focused on Innovation in Mining, challenging teams to develop AI-driven solutions for the mining industry. This competition provided a platform for young innovators to explore AI applications in the mining industry while gaining valuable research, collaboration, and presentation experience.
Team Kenya had two AI teams:
AI League: Team Safari
Team Safari created a forecasting system for mines:
- sensors to collect underground data.
- AI analyzes patterns using an LSTM Neural Network.
- predicts risks 18-48 hours ahead.
- sends alerts instantly.
- recommends safety actions
AI League: MinerAI
MinerAI is an advanced AI-powered system designed to detect and monitor mining activity from satellite imagery, with a focus on identifying both legal and illegal mines. By leveraging deep learning models such as UNet and geospatial data, MinerAI analyzes high-resolution satellite images to generate precise binary masks highlighting active mining zones. It converts these detections into real-world coordinates, enabling governments, organizations, and environmental agencies to track mining operations, prevent environmental damage, and enforce regulations effectively. The platform offers a scalable, automated solution to address issues like illegal mining, land degradation, and human rights violations in the mining sector.
PARC 2025 – key statistics
Over 15 African Countries
300+ Participants
Awards
🥉 Bronze: Team Safari
🥈 Silver: minerAI
🥇Special Award: Best Live Demonstration (MINER AI)
Conclusion:
The team is proud of their achievements, made possible through collaboration and support from organizations such as TME Education. The Pan African Robotics Competition is more than just an event—it has taught the students collaboration, teamwork and innovation.
The Pan-African Robotics Competition offered more than a competitive platform—it instilled values of teamwork, innovation, and cross-cultural exchange in the future leaders of STEM.
For other events check out social media.
