 Ryan O'Gorman, left, and Graham Bremmer of Summerland Senior Secondary School compete in the Vex Robotics Competition Saturday at Okanagan College in Kelowna. |
It was the Pacific Youth Robotics Society's first competition in the Okanagan.
"We've had an interest in promoting robotics outside of the Lower Mainland," said Lance Balcom, the society's president. "This is our move to promote and develop competitive robotics in Kelowna and the Okanagan Valley."
The Pacific Youth Robotics Society has been running in the province for seven years, and many of the teams will be competing at the provincial championship at BCIT next month.
Balcom said robotics is a sport for kids who aren't interested in sports like basketball and volleyball.
"It takes kids and forces them to learn and articulate ideas and face challenges as a team. It's a great opportunity to develop skills," he said.
The competition required the teams to use their robots to score points by dropping bean bags on coloured squares on a field and in elevated troughs.
The game, called Sack Attack, was developed and launched last May.
Since then, teams across the world have been building robots to play the game.
Joseph Campagnaro, 14, spent a month building his robot, which has omnidirectional wheels and four motors.
"It's fun and interesting to design new ideas and compete against other teams," said Campagnaro, a student at Summerland Senior Secondary.
Nick Kast is a technology teacher at Summerland Senior Secondary. The Summerland team was the only one from the Okanagan competing.
"The class has been popular at our school," he said. "You learn to work with your hands, and boys in particular are hands-on learners," he said.
Kast said he hopes the competition will help the sport grow in the Okanagan.
"It teaches problem-solving, and it can lead to careers in engineering and programming," he said.
