Students and faculty from Montemorelos University, a Seventh-day Adventist institution overseen by the Inter-American Division, earned first place nationally in the RoboCup @Home Beginner category during the Mexican Robotics Tournament (TMR) 2026, held April 16–18, 2026, in Puebla.

The achievement marks a significant milestone for the institution, as it placed first in this category for the first time, competing against universities with strong academic reputations across Mexico, university officials said.

The team presented Havva@home, a home service robot powered by artificial intelligence, capable of autonomous navigation, voice command recognition, object identification, and manipulation through a robotic arm.

The system integrates autonomous navigation, natural language processing, and computer vision, enabling the robot to perform complex tasks in real-world environments.

“I was responsible for all the logic and programming so the robot could understand what the judge or I said through the microphone, process that message, locate both the object and the location, and also return a response—what we call speech-to-text and text-to-speech,” explained Rafael Pérez, a three-year student in computer systems engineering.

The project began in October 2025 and brought together students from various disciplines, who worked beyond regular class hours for several months.

“We divided the tasks into system integration, navigation, manipulation, and machine learning,” said Daniel Neri, faculty member and creator of the project.

The preparation process involved overcoming technical and resource limitations, as well as navigating a steep learning curve.

“The biggest challenge was diving into the world of ROS and Python to be able to accomplish what was required,” Pérez added.

Despite the challenges, the team successfully developed a strong interdisciplinary project, where system integration played a key role in the robot’s performance.

Beyond the technical aspects, the team emphasized the formative experience and the values they sought to reflect during the competition, faculty leaders said.

“It’s not just about winning, but about learning and bearing witness to who we are as a university,” said Rubén López, faculty member and mentor in the electronics area.

That commitment was also reflected in a key decision that shaped their participation. The team requested to move their final test to Friday to observe the Sabbath, even though this meant competing under less favorable conditions than other teams, team leaders said.

“That put us at a disadvantage, but it didn’t stop us,” said Bequer Quiroga, a three-year student in computer systems engineering.

The result not only secured first place but also brought visibility to the university in a competitive environment where it had not previously been widely recognized, López said.

For the students, the experience had a direct impact on both their professional and personal development.

Quiroga said the most meaningful lessons extended beyond academics. “I take with me values that are not strictly academic, but relational, such as mutual respect, listening to others, recognizing that someone else may have a better idea than you, and also defending your perspective, but always with respect.”

The team plans to continue participating in future editions of the tournament and advance to more demanding categories, with the goal of establishing a formal robotics program at the university.

Lisandra Vicente and Brenda Cerón contributed to this report. The original article was published on the Inter-American Division news site.