Greater than 1,000 younger individuals from Quebec and elsewhere have gathered for the Robotics Championship

Greater than 1,000 highschool college students took half Friday and Saturday within the twelfth Robotique FIRST Québec Pageant of Robotics, which featured 39 groups from throughout Quebec, in addition to some others from China, the USA, France, Taiwan and Turkey.

At stake: a spot within the FIRST Championship, which is able to function one of the best groups on this planet in Houston, Texas, on the finish of April. However regardless of this prestigious award, the occasion was above all of the fruits of the long-term work of those budding engineers.

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“It’s nice to see guys so proud. They’ve been constructing their robotic for a number of months and are working as a crew to be aggressive this weekend. It’s nice,” mentioned Hadrian Parisot, director of partnerships, technique and public affairs for the Quebec Youth Integration and Robotics Program. Additionally seeing the mother and father who got here to encourage the youth.”

All through the varsity 12 months, these groups, consisting of a mean of 12 to fifteen younger individuals, frolicked designing their bot for this 12 months’s problem, “Totally Charged”. If beacons are supplied to them, it’s as much as them to think about their bot from the bottom up, hoping to attain as many factors as doable throughout the video games.

As soon as on the scene, cooperation was important. Consequently, this led to unlikely alliances shaped between Quebecers, Individuals, and Chinese language, for instance, which is especially attention-grabbing in Mr. Parizeau’s eyes.

“Even if they dwell removed from one another, they’re nonetheless younger individuals of the identical age with the identical ardour, the eagerness for robots,” he recollects. So for younger individuals from Trois-Rivières, let’s say, younger individuals from Taiwan, that is likely to be removed from their actuality. .

“So to have the ability to have these contacts, to have the ability to chat over the weekend once they can do this, I believe it’s a pleasant message to ship to everybody.”

Duel … cubes and cones

The robots the scholars constructed had comparable traits to the American “Battlebots”. However not like the machines within the widespread TV present, the robots that rolled down the principle terrain on the Colisée Videotron had no intention of attacking one another, Friday and Saturday.

The robots have been positioned in two groups of three in the identical area, the place they particularly had to assist one another decide up cubes and cones and deposit them at their station. On the finish of the match, the bots needed to attempt to discover their stability on a platform, which led to some thrilling match endings, particularly within the finals.

Along with constructing the bot, the completely different groups thus had to consider their technique all through the constructing course of.

“There are robots which are quicker, and others which are extra agile,” Mr. Parisot analyzes. Groups select completely different expertise to construct their robotic, so the consequence could be very motivating.

World Remaining

In the long run, six groups received their ticket to the worldwide remaining.

First, the event was gained by Collège Regina Assumpta (Montreal), École Paul Hubert (Rimouski) and Polivalente La Samare (Blessisville). Subsequently, Collège Notre Dame de Bellegarde (France), Collège Villa Maria (Montreal) and Egan Excessive Faculty (USA) gained Particular Jury Prizes.

For Robotique FIRST Québec, the 2023 competition marks a return to the complete format in entrance of the general public, after a number of years below the yoke of sanitary measures. Furthermore, 5,500 individuals attended the ceremony, the organizers counted.

Regardless of harder current years, there was no scarcity of volunteers for this huge occasion on the Colisée Vidéotron in Trois-Rivières, house of the ECHL Lions.

“The bond is powerful between the individuals who have taken the Robotique FIRST Québec journey and their participation. We now have individuals who have been doing robotics for a number of years who are actually taking part as volunteers with us. It’s a ravishing wheel that turns,” concludes Mr. Parisot.