On August 14 the Regional Robocup competition was held at St Kentigern's College in Auckland.
Ten children from Rosebank School participated in 2 of the competition categories: Rescue and Dance. This event was a chance for the students to demonstrate how much learning had taken place in 7 weeks.
The Rescue category involved programming the robots to use 2 light sensors to follow a black line to the green 'chemical spill' area where it had to push a 'victim' (a can) out of the area. The two teams needed to demonstrate their learning to the competition judges in an interview, design a team T-shirt, show a diary of learning and compete in 5 rounds on the Rescue mat. The students in the Rescue teams did much construction and de-construction of their robots in order to meet the competition requirements. They mastered the complexities of the rescue program and refined their problem-solving skills.
The day of the competition...
Rescue
The 32 Robo Rescuers Team – Nelson Lagiono (Team Leader), Wasif Khan and Andre Clegg faced the most challenges with their robot not following the line. They had to use their problem-solving skills to find a way to improve the program so that the team could collect a high number of points.
The Rosebank Rescuers Team – Neil Uy (Team Leader), Jesse Betham and Jimmy Whiting had a tough first round but managed to overcome difficulties to achieve a good score for the remaining rounds. Their challenge was the part of the program where the robot had to cross the 'chemical spill' area to knock out the can. The robot crawled slowly and the time ran out!
Dance
For the Dance team's entry, the students needed to choreograph a dance for their robots and make them move in time to the music. The Rosebank Robo Rockers team – David Gatoloai (Team Leader), Andrew Leilua, Alfred Dela-Pena and Royce Seil chose the track Funkytown. They demonstrated their learning enthusiastically at their interview and received a good average score of 30/40. Their performance demonstrated a wide variety of attributes and scored 40/60. A few members of the audience told the boys how much they enjoyed their dance. Sadly we didn't place this year but it was a valuable and fun experience for all. Watch their video by clicking on this link.