Hundreds of high school students — and their robots — took over Saskatchewan Polytechnic on Thursday.
Two-hundred-and-forty students, from 52 high schools across the province, competed in the 10th annual Robot Rumble. Working in teams of two, students pitted robots, which they’d built and programmed, against other robots in head-to-head battles. One by one, robots were knocked out, until only two were left standing.
“It’s a lot of on-the-spot troubleshooting, because some of them will show up and all of a sudden their robot isn’t working,” said Saskatchewan Polytechnic president & CEO Larry Rosia. “So some really good life skills are being learned about the science technology, about electronics and about competing.”
This was the first year twin sisters Jowel and Jewel Lapratt competed. The pair drove from Waterhen Lake First Nation to Saskatoon early Thursday morning.
“We have a teacher, and he just asked us if we wanted to go to it. We didn’t ever try anything like this, so we just said, ‘Yeah, we’ll give it a shot,’” said Grade 10 student Jowel.
Although the Waweyekisik School students say they may not pursue a career in science and technology, they both agree the competition helped bring them out of their shells.
“It’s OK when she’s with me, but if I’m by myself I’m going to be scared through the whole thing. So she’s right here, my moral support,” laughed Jowel.
“Yeah, I think it’s fun, but at first I was just waiting, I was shaking,” said Jewel.
In the end, three teams were left standing. The first place winner was Jeremy Corrigal from Rossignol High School in Ȋle-à-la-Crosse. Second place went to Lindsey Petit and Keegan Buffin, also from Rossignol High School. Craig Hewko and Hunter Nedrew took third place, both from Neilburg Composite School in Neilburn, Sask.
