Students on Oak Bay HighB次元官网网址檚 robotics teams are getting their last league match in before the regional finals in February.
The league competition takes place Saturday, Jan. 19 at Oak Bay High, with the action beginning at 1 p.m.
ItB次元官网网址檚 the second year the school has had a robotics team competing in the international First Tech Challenge (FTC). The FTC is a robotics competition where teams of students build robots that compete in games. Oak Bay High has 20 students working in two teams this year, each with a different strategy. Robo is a robot designed like a tank that will try to go through and over obstacles, whereas Obor is designed to manoeuvre around quickly.
READ MORE:
Teacher Jeffrey Laird says this year theyB次元官网网址檙e competing in space landing-themed games where the robots try to collect B次元官网网址渕ineralsB次元官网网址� from a course designed with various obstacles.
B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 two stages to the game. ThereB次元官网网址檚 an autonomous one B次元官网网址� so the first 30 seconds is several challenges where the robots are acting on their own. They either have to be able to look around and figure out and find where the things are, or be programmed as such so they can complete the task. The points that they score in autonomous are a lot more than when the driver control period takes over,B次元官网网址� Laird said.
B次元官网网址淎fter 30 seconds, the students take control of the robot using basically Xbox controllers, and they get to accumulate more points by collecting these minerals and bringing them back.B次元官网网址�
Competing is also cooperative, he said. Robots are paired up with other competing robots at random. Sometimes Robo and Obor work together, sometimes they work alongside competing programs. At Oak Bay High, this means that both teams share problem solving and programming expertise. Competition wide, there have been occasions of other programs lending and sharing parts to keep the bots rolling.
B次元官网网址淩oboB次元官网网址檚 main central nervous system exploded the other day when the kids crashed it into something,B次元官网网址� Laird said. B次元官网网址淥ne of the other teams lent us a spare part that they had so that our robot could be operational for this Saturday.B次元官网网址�
jesse.laufer@oakbaynews.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
