ICT

I would like to thank Mr Grantham-Smith for his support of George Sempelidis and his team mate, Koosha Kayani. Mr Grantham-Smith gave his personal time to accompany these amazing students to Thailand and participate on the world stage, competing against the best of the best students to demonstrate their abilities and capabilities in Robotics and Engineering - merging many disciplines to challenge young and emerging minds.  

Ms Ho

ICT Teacher

ROBOCUP 2022

This year the finals of the international RoboCup, the world’s largest robotics and artificial intelligence event, were held in Bangkok, Thailand.

RoboCup (www.robocup.org  is an international scientific initiative with the goal of advancing the state of the art of intelligent Robots, AI and Automation. It is comprised of Junior and Senior divisions (High school and University) and features many events including Search and Rescue, Medical and Home Care, Industrial Logistics and even Robo-Soccer! After moving to a virtual competition for the last two years, it was incredible to have the opportunity for teams and their robots from all around the world to gather and compete in person once again.

Team Pashmam, from left to right: George Sempelidis, Koosha Kayani and Jesse Grantham-Smith

McKinnon was represented by George Sempelidis of Year 12, who alongside his friend and colleague Koosha Kayani from Glen Waverley, have been competing in the junior Search and Rescue division for the last four years. The team faced extremely high-level competition, and although they were ultimately bested by a very impressive team from Iran, were recognized with the division award for Excellence in the Engineering Process. 

George and Koosha accepting their award for Excellence in the Engineering Process – Rescue Line Division.

These students designed a completely custom robot including a 3D printed chassis, a 4-layer printed circuit board for electrics, and programmed the Raspberry Pi used for the ‘brain’ of the robot in Python. The robot featured numerous sensors and actuators and was able to perform complex tasks in the context of a search and rescue simulation such as avoiding obstacles, collecting medical equipment and the victims, and delivering them to a designated evacuation zone.  

The competition: Here George and Koosha are being assessed and timed on their Robot’s performance

The students had a fantastic experience and represented their local communities, and Australia, with a level of maturity and professionalism beyond their years. We would love to build on their success and continue to enter McKinnon students and their robots into many future competitions!

Mr Grantham-Smith

Team Mentor 

GROK NCSS CHALLENGE

The July Grok NCSS Challenge is underway and students have completed the first week. Many of the participating students have completed the first week, but some are still lagging behind. If you need help, please contact me (hmn@mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au) or come and find me in A4 (main campus).  

Good luck all Grokkers!

Ms Ho

ICT Teacher