Alberta students compete in robot building and programming competition

Robots created by students face off in contest Teams of students from grades seven to 12 competed in a high-tech competition this weekend. Amanda Anderson explains.

Kids from across the province participated in a high-tech competition in Sherwood Park Saturday featuring robots they built and programmed.

Students from grades seven to 12 competed in the First Tech Challenge, a stepping-stone tournament to qualify for provincial championships in March.

Each competition round lasts for two and a half minutes, with robots having to complete a task, like picking up cones and placing them on poles. During the first 30 seconds of the round, robots must operate without help.

"The coding has to be such that the robot will do the specific task," explained Sanny Chan, Cyber Eagles Robotics outreach coordinator.

Team members can use controllers for the last two minutes to operate robots. The more tasks successfully completed, the higher the points tally a team takes home.

Nate Stork, a Cyber Eagles team member, has been involved in robotics programming for six years.

"The reason why I stuck in it is because you learn so many skills throughout robotics and you also get to make really cool relationships with friends and whoever's on your team," Stork said.

He also enjoys seeing the robot performing well after hours of coding and designing. While teams are aiming to win, Stork says the competition is friendly.

"To know that all hard work you put in is actually paying off," Stork added. "It's more about helping out the other teams that you're with, so even though you might be playing against them, you're actually working with them.

"So I think it's just that feeling of working together not only with your team but other teams."

Stork's interest in robotics has now inspired him to consider a career in engineering.

"I think this really teaches me some skills that are really practical and can be used in a job and earning a degree," he said.

When the competition first started, there were 30 teams in Alberta, Chan said. Nearly a decade later, that number has doubled.

"Globally there about 6,000 teams that are doing exactly the same thing that we're doing here today," Chan added.

"It used to be just one provincial championship, now we have regions — a northern Alberta and southern Alberta region — just because we have so many teams."

Chan says the competition helps teach skills that will support them in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers and beyond.

"Their ability to look for answers because the coaches don't always have the answers," she said. "It really helps them to go outwards… where you come upon a problem and realize the ways to answer problems are out there, they just have to discover it."