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Tuesday, January 21, 2014 • COMOX VALLEY RECORD
www.comoxvalleyrecord.com
Teamwork important while constructing robots
Renee Andor Record Staff
Comox Valley students will test the might of their robotic creations Saturday at the Vancouver Island VEX Robotics Tournament. Held for the first time ever at Highland Secondary School, the tournament will run from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with the playoff portion happening from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. The public is encouraged to attend. Thirty-two teams have registered from Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland, according to Comox Valley School District career programs coordinator Randy Grey. Comox Valley representation will include two teams from Highland, three teams from Isfeld and four teams from Navigate powered by NIDES (North Island Distance Education School). Two of Isfeld’s teams attended the VEX Robotics World Championship last year and will compete this Saturday. Grade 11 student Damian Parlee was on one of those teams. “We ranked higher than any team from B.C., (at last year’s world competition), which was pretty excit-
MARK R. ISFELD Grade 11 students Evie Kenny, from left, Nicolas Parlee, Adrian Humphry and Damian Parlee will use these robots to compete Saturday in the Vancouver Island VEX Robotics Tournament at Highland Secondary School. PHOTO BY RENEE ANDOR ing,” says Parlee, who is confident Isfeld’s robots will make it to the world championship again this year. Robots for VEX tournaments are made using bought
components which the students then put together to create a robot designed to complete a specified task. Robots this year will need to pick up small balls (buckyballs) and
larger balls (similar size as beach balls). Parlee’s classmate Adrian Humphry adds students go through many designs before they finish their final robot; he put about 50
hours into his team’s robot this year. Teamwork is important while building the robots, but it’s also an important aspect of the tournament, as teams must form alliances and work together to do well. “Who you choose is who will complement your robot well,” says Humphry. “So, maybe (your) robot is really good at picking up the big balls and then you go with one that’s really good at picking up the little balls and you work together.” This tournament is a qualifying round for the provincial tournament held in February. Teams that do well at the provincial tournament could qualify
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Andrea Rowe See story, page A3
CORRECTION We reported the wrong draw date for a 4R’s Education Centre raffle. The draw will happen Feb. 13, not Feb. 14.
writer@comoxvalleyrecord.com
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