Glendale robotics team wins gold medal

The Glendale High School Robotics team has one gold medal to its credit and is working to qualify for provincial championships. Members of the team include, left to right: Jim Hopkins, Nicholas Whelan, Matthew Devos, Zachary MacRae, Sota Hashiura (Rotary exchange student), Dagon Thibodeau, Ellis Cole, Veena Projapati, Maylina Wall, teacher Dana Roberts, and teacher Mackenzie Colvin. (Jeff Helsdon Photo)

Jeff Helsdon, Editor

Glendale High School's robotic team’s robot doesn’t have a name, but if it did, it could be called the transformer.

The fledgling team was started last year by teacher Dana Roberts after she saw robotics teams at other schools where she had worked. The team won a gold medal at county and district competitions, qualifying it to compete at the provincials. Team members came away from the provincials without medals.

Going into its second year, a larger team has already earned a gold medal in the county championship. Building the robot meant starting over from scratch, since its task is different from last year's. Roberts explained that robotics teams globally are given a task for the robots to complete each year.

“New design, new build, new challenges,” she said. “Essentially, what it has to do is quite different.”

This year’s challenge is for the robot to collect six-inch diameter balls. The robot will have a bin to hold the balls, and then it has to shoot the balls into a tower, reminiscent of basketball.

“It’s a bit of a keep-away game,” Roberts said. “You want to keep as many of these balls as possible away from the other team and then shoot them.”

Another element of the challenge is for the robot to be able to hang on a ladder.

“The more experienced teams will climb the ladder, because there are three tiers to it,” she explained. “We’re just hoping to get to the first tier.

Many of the parts from last year’s robot, though, are being transformed into this year’s edition, hence why the name could be Transformer.

“We’re pretty good at reusing the materials we had,” she said. “As a second-year team, we don’t have a lot of parts and resources.”

What’s new for the team this year is its support resources. They are being assisted by a mechanical designer from Marwood International Inc. Mackenzie Colvin, the transportation technology teacher who is also a licensed mechanic, is also assisting.

Roberts was glad to see the team grow to 15 members this year, from nine last year. Many of the students are interested in some aspect of STEM, whether it’s mechanical, electrical, or building.

“And then there’s the whole business side who are doing the marketing and fundraising,” she added.

There is no funding provided from the school board, meaning the team depends entirely on the money it can raise.

The team will be competing at Georgian College in Barrie, March 27 to 29, and in Windsor, April 7 to 9. It needs to earn a medal at one of those regional competitions to qualify for provincials.