Robotics fans can get an up-close look at intense, yet friendly, competition as 150 young people battle in the FIRST Tech Challenge Qualifier Saturday in Saanich.
Since September, teens on teams from Victoria, Nanaimo, Vancouver and Washington state have designed, built, and programmed robots to compete in this season's game called Into the Deep B次元官网网址� themed around ocean exploration.
B次元官网网址淭hese students have gotten involved with a FIRST team for different reasons. Maybe it was to socialize or maybe it was because they already had an interest in STEM,B次元官网网址� said Christine Nicholls, FIRST Tech Challenge program delivery partner for British Columbia. B次元官网网址淏ut as well as learning robot building and programming skills, they are building skills like teamwork and collaboration that will help them get jobs in the future.B次元官网网址�
The robots are coded and designed to use computer vision to automatically recognize samples and specimens to score them in baskets or on the submersible. During competition, teams are randomly placed in two-team alliances and compete against another alliance to score the most points.
Each team competes in five round-robin matches with a new alliance partner in each match. For the playoff rounds, the top four teams in the round robin each select their alliance partner.
Local high schools competing include Reynolds, Esquimalt, Spectrum, Mt. Douglas, and the host St. Margaret's School.
Admission is free and open to the public at St. Margaret's School, 1080 Lucas Ave. on Saturday, Jan. 25 from 1 to 5 p.m.
Top teams earn an invite to the provincial championships, also held at St. MargaretB次元官网网址檚, Feb. 21 and 22.
