Robocup 2018

On Monday 20 August, six teams plus the robotics teachers, took a bus down to the Education Development Centre in Hindmarsh, for a robotics competition called Robocup Junior Australia. There are many different activities you can do at Robocup; Soccer, Dance, Sumo and Rescue. Blackfriars were in the primary and secondary divisions of the Rescue competition.

The Rescue competition requires students to program robots to follow a black line, occasionally turning on a green patch and avoiding a bottle to rescue a can from a ‘chemical spill’; a patch of green on a board. In the Junior division, you simply had to knock the can out of the chemical spill within two and a half minutes, compared to higher divisions, where you have to put the can on a raised platform.

The teams had a great time programming the robots and testing them on the boards provided. The challenges increased with each round up to the finals. Overall, it was a great learning experience and a challenging task that really improves problem solving and thinking abilities. I would recommend the Robotics group for anyone who is interested in simple programming, technology, or problem solving.

Miles Barrett, Year 10

For more information about Robocup Junior, visit https://robocupjunior.org.au/

If you would like to join the Robotics program, please see Mrs Wilson, Mr Wallace or Miss Berrill.