Four Halton District School Board FIRST Robotics teams launched the competition season this past weekend by competing at the FIRST Robotics Competition Ontario hosted by Durham College on March 2-3, 2019. The M.M. Robinson Rambotics team were the Competition champions, and three other HDSB teams made it to the playoffs.
The two-day competition included close to 1,000 high school students from 40 teams across Ontario. Students compete to build their own robots, demonstrating their engineering skills and knowledge.
The four HDSB teams at the Competition were the Burlington Central Trojans (Team 2386), M.M. Robinson Rambotics (Team 2200), Milton District Mustangs (Team 3571) and the Garth Webb Chargers (Team 5409).
The HDSB proved to be strong competitors, with three of the Board’s teams making the playoffs and M.M. Robinson Rambotics finishing the qualifying rounds first overall, and continuing on to win the competition as
Durham Regional Champions. Both the Burlington Central Trojans and the Garth Webb Chargers were successful throughout the qualifying rounds and advanced to the quarterfinals.
The Garth Webb Chargers showcased a successful build winning the Competition’s Quality Award, awarded to the robot featuring both robustness in concept and fabrication. The M.M. Robinson Rambotics also received the Excellence in Engineering Award, celebrating an “elegant and advantageous machine feature”.
“We are extremely proud of all of our teams that competed this past weekend and will compete in future weeks,” says Veronica Kleinsmith, Instructional Program Leader of Technological Education for the Halton District School Board. “FIRST Robotics is such an engaging and authentic learning opportunity for our students. We are thrilled that M.M. Robinson Rambotics were able to finish as champions, demonstrating the strength of our HDSB Technological Education programs, students, teachers, mentors, sponsors and community that support our robotics teams.”
The HDSB has 10 FIRST Robotics teams. In addition to the four secondary schools that competed at the Ontario District Competition at Durham College, other teams include the Robert Bateman High School Wildebots, Dr. Frank J. Hayden Secondary School Huskies, Oakville Trafalgar High School Red Devils and Amped Up, Craig Kielburger Secondary School Spartans, and the Georgetown District High School Revolt Robotics. Many of these teams will be competing at the upcoming competition at McMaster University on April 6-7, 2019, as well as other competitions across Ontario and the U.S.
The HDSB hopes to have a number of FIRST Robotics teams compete at the Ontario District Championship and the World Championships in April. Visit
www.firstinspires.org for details on FIRST Robotics and
www.haltonpathways.ca for information on HDSB Pathways Programs associated with robotics.
PHOTO CREDIT: First Robotics Canada