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Greater Victoria students compete in robotics competition

Local event geared to inspire youth to be innovators in science, technology

More than 100 competitors ages 14 to 18 and their robots took part in a FIRST Tech Challenge this weekend at St. Margaret’s School.

FIRST (for inspiration and recognition of science and technology) is a robotics community aimed at inspiring young people to be leaders in science and technology. This past weekend’s event took place on Saturday (Nov. 26) and the contestants were all from Greater Victoria.

The students designed, built and programmed robots that use computer vision to recognize signals and score cones on junctions at different heights to complete circuits.

The participants began working on the robots in September.

“These students have gotten involved with a FIRST team for different reasons,” said Christine Nicholls, FIRST Tech Challenge affiliate partner for British Columbia. “Maybe it was to socialize, or maybe it was because they already had an interest in STEM. In addition to the robot building and programming skills, they are learning skills like teamwork and collaboration that will help them get jobs in the future.”

Community-based teams and students from Mount Douglas Secondary, Esquimalt High School, Reynolds Secondary, Spectrum Community School and St. Michael’s University School all entered the competition along with two teams from St. Margaret’s.

“FIRST supports diversity in all our activities, and it’s great to have these teams as role models to encourage young girls to get involved with robotics,” Nicholls said.

READ MORE: Esquimalt students make the business case for robotics


 

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Brendan Mayer

About the Author: Brendan Mayer

I spent my upbringing in Saskatoon, and in 2021, I made the move to Vancouver Island.
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