Fort High students to compete in international robotics competition

Students will travel to Calgary this week to take part in the robotics competition.

Fort Saskatchewan High School will send 17 students to the 2019 Fort Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics competition.

The international competition will have teams from all over North America, Turkey, China and Australia competing in Calgary this week.

This year’s theme is Destination: Deep Space and teams must design and build a robot that will meet the simulated challenges of collecting resources from deep space.

“The FIRST Robotics Challenge is one of the hardest challenges we have faced as a team,” said Grade 11 student and Sting Robotics member, Colby Mask. “It’s challenging us to design a multifunctional robot within certain size and weight limits. Competing in Calgary gives us an opportunity to connect with teams from all over the world and see the different solutions they’ve come up with.”

The Sting Robotics team had six weeks to prep for this competition.

“Our team has invested hundreds of hours and made a fantastic commitment to expanding their knowledge in numerous STEM specialties,” said robotics teacher, Rick Kobylnyk. “Through the design, engineering, building and testing phase, the students have shown true dedication and ingenuity in turning an idea into a functional robot. We were also privileged to have the opportunity to learn from our former students, mentors from DOW Chemical Canada and other FIRST teams—they’ve all contributed to making this season a success.”

Winners from this event will go onto compete in the world finals, which take place in Houston, in April.