Meet Balboíta: a Panamanian robot created to keep culture. Everywhere. For everyone.
Balboíta is a robot that recognizes coins and banknotes and teaches their
history, their symbols and their cultural significance. Hold up a coin or a
banknote and it identifies the piece, shows how confident it is, tells you the
story it carries and what it is worth today. Its name is a diminutive of the
balboa, Panama's currency, named after Vasco Núñez de Balboa.
Balboíta is one project you can meet in two ways: in person, as the robot at
exhibitions and competitions, and online at balboita.app, its website, which
brings the same collection and stories to any phone or computer. Both are
Balboíta; the website is not a separate product.
It was built from scratch by the Three Musketeers (Los Tres Mosqueteros):
Fernando González, Luis Enrique Mela and Luis Alberto Mela, a team of 10th and
11th grade Panamanian students from Colegio Bilingüe de Panamá. They built the
robot, the camera, the vision model and every one of the stories it tells.
Fernando González is the Lead Software Developer: he built balboita.app and the
robot's code and software from scratch. Luis Enrique Mela is the Lead Technical
Writer: the report, the math and physics, the business model, marketing and the
presentation. Luis Alberto Mela is the Hardware Lead: the robot's circuitry,
motors, sensors and Raspberry Pi. On Instagram: Fernando is
@utmpx, Luis Enrique is
@luchin_mela and Luis Alberto is
@betin1524. The team earned 2nd place at the WRO National Championship in Panama and represented Panamá at the
WRO Open Championship Europe 2026 in Zagreb, Croatia, where it placed 3rd overall in Future
Innovators Senior.
En español: Balboíta es un robot inclusivo que reconoce monedas y billetes y
enseña su historia, sus símbolos y su significado cultural. Lo construyeron
desde cero Los Tres Mosqueteros, estudiantes del Colegio Bilingüe de Panamá:
Fernando González, líder de desarrollo de software, que creó balboita.app y el
código y el software del robot (unas 26 mil líneas de código); Luis Enrique Mela,
líder de redacción técnica, a cargo del informe, las matemáticas y la física, el
modelo de negocio, el marketing y la presentación; y Luis Alberto Mela, líder de
hardware, a cargo de los circuitos, los motores, los sensores y la Raspberry Pi.
En Instagram: Fernando es @utmpx, Luis Enrique es @luchin_mela y Luis Alberto
es @betin1524; el equipo, @balboita.pa.
El equipo obtuvo el 2.º lugar en el Campeonato Nacional de la WRO en Panamá y
representó a Panamá en el WRO Open Championship Europe 2026 en Zagreb, Croacia,
donde obtuvo el 3.er lugar general en Future Innovators Senior.
Balboíta is built to be inclusive: the robot carries braille, so blind and
low-vision visitors can use it by touch; built-in speakers tell every piece's
story out loud; a second screen shows Balboíta the mascot, who reads a book
while idle and talks and blinks as he explains, for young children and learners
of every age; and you can talk to Balboíta in any language, with no
limits, and it answers in the same one, both on the robot and on balboita.app.
Our goal is a robot that keeps stories alive, shares culture and preserves
heritage, not only for Panama, but for the whole world.
What Balboíta can do
- Recognition in seconds: identifies a coin or banknote from the camera, shows how confident it is, and explains its name, denomination, material, symbols and history, with its value today. Pieces from outside the collection are still identified and valued, and get a card written by AI from the visitor's photo and widely known facts, labeled as such.
- A reading chamber built for accuracy: an enclosed cabinet with LED lighting blocks out the room, and a camera on a stepper-motor rail stops over the piece at the same spot every time, calibrated by an ultrasonic sensor.
- Metal and ultraviolet checks: an inductive sensor tells a coin from a banknote by detecting metal, and an ultraviolet lamp reveals the security marks a banknote hides under white light.
- Live Chat in any language: show Balboíta a piece on camera and ask about it out loud, or type a question; it answers in your language, with English captions so everyone can follow.
- A cultural collection: Panamanian and world coins and banknotes with their history, symbols, timeline, a 3D viewer and narration.
- Live exchange rates: compare and convert between more than 180 currencies, precious metals and cryptocurrencies, with real history back to 1996.
- Inclusive by design: braille on the robot, speakers that tell each story out loud, a second screen where Balboíta the mascot reads a book while idle and talks and blinks as he explains, for young children, and conversations in any language, with no limits, on the robot and on the website.
On this website
- Analyze: hold a coin or banknote up to the camera and Balboíta identifies it and tells its story.
- Live Chat: show Balboíta any coin or banknote and ask about it out loud, in any language.
- Collection: the coins and banknotes Balboíta recognizes, with their history, symbols and material.
- Explore: Panama's history told through its money.
- Exchange: compare the balboa and the dollar with more than 180 currencies, precious metals and cryptocurrencies, and convert any amount.
- About: the team, how Balboíta works and who it is built for.
Balboíta is an independent student robotics project. It is not affiliated with
the Superintendencia de Bancos de Panamá or its financial-education mascot of
the same name. Instagram: @balboita.pa.
Contact us: mosqueteroscolegio@gmail.com.
Balboíta runs on JavaScript. Turn it on to scan coins, talk to Balboíta and explore the collection.