Students build marbling robot to fight pollution in fashion industry
Yevgen Ngui noticed the colours fading from his football jersey, revealing the synthetic dyes commonly used in the textile industry.
KUALA LUMPUR - Thanks to a colour bleaching incident, an 11-year-old boy is now more conscious and passionate about protecting the environment and saving the planet.
Yevgen Ngui noticed the colours fading from his football jersey, revealing the synthetic dyes commonly used in the textile industry.
Curious about what caused the change, he began researching synthetic dyes and uncovering their toxic nature and the serious harm they pose to aquatic life and human health.
This discovery inspired Yevgen and his schoolmates, Yeoh Zi Jian, 12, and Celeste Tan, 10, to create the "Marbling Robot for Sustainable Future (MarBot4SF)”, a machine that merges water marbling techniques with robotics to create stunning, eco-friendly patterns, aiming to overcome environmental and health complications caused by the usage of synthetic dyes in the fashion and textile industry.
"I researched it on the internet and found that synthetic dye is harmful to aquatic life and human health. So, I wanted to make a robot that can use natural pigment dye instead of synthetic dyes so that it would not continue harming the environment,” he told Bernama when met at the Malaysia Open House Exhibition @ Asean KL 2025 here recently.
Zi Jian, who has loved art since Year 4, while learning about water marbling technique, has sparked the idea to merge arts with modern robotics which lead to the invention of MarBot4SF.
"I really wanted to combine art and technology. While brainstorming, I remembered that in Year 4, we learned about water marbling and that (technique) is what I want to combine with technology.
"Adding to that, the element of sustainability helps revolutionise the fashion industry and make a better world,” he said.
Similarly, Celeste found inspiration online when she came across articles about how the fashion and textile industry is one of the leading causes of water pollution.
That opened up her passion to create MarBot4SF as the solution.
"I searched deeper and wanted to create something that could combine art and technology so it could solve environmental problems, and then we came up with MarBot4SF.
"This can help reduce the environmental impact on textile printing and creates beautiful and natural patterns on fabric,” she said.
Behind their success, teacher and project advisor Ong Yun Naam Adrian, 34, said that despite not majoring in robotics studies in universities, the students inspired him to venture more in this field and help them realise the project.
"It was through the school that I was introduced to robotics. Working with the students made me realise that sometimes it is not about something they learn through the textbook, but it focuses on their presentation language skills.
"We spend a lot of time, including students and me, even during weekends and holidays; their commitment and interest also motivate us. If students are willing to come back and spend time, rather than going out with their friends, it motivates us to help them,” he said.
Their invention also took them to places including the World Robot Olympiad in Turkiye and the World Robot Competition in Indonesia, as well as bagging gold and silver medals at the National Robotics Competition here last year. - BERNAMA
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