SA robotics youth team does us proud
28 June 2023
News
Team Texpand, a Cape Town based community robotics team aged from 13 to 16, has represented South Africa at the FIRST World Robotics Championships in Houston running from 19-22 April. The team won first place in the THINK award which is awarded to the team that demonstrates the best solution to removing engineering obstacles through creative and scientific thinking.
This international event is an annual celebration of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) for all youth and results in fun preparation for young people looking towards a career in these fields. The competitions centred around a game that is played by robots, with each team scoring points by their programmed robot picking up cup sized cones and placing them on poles of different heights. In each match, two teams were randomly chosen to collaborate and devise a strategy on how their robots would play the game to win against the other two opposing robots.
In both the Western Cape regional and the SA national competitions, Texpand won the top award for the best team. The criteria included:
• Creative engineering and problem solving.
• Innovative design of the gripper system.
• Multiple sensors to improve robot control.
• Volunteering more than 60 hours of training disadvantaged students in programming, mechanics and mathematics.
The team of Texpand did the country proud by being ranked 25th out of 192 championship teams. Ethan Buckle, the founding member of Texpand, explains their philosophy: “From the start we had our sights set on being the best SA team and qualifying for Worlds. We spent years watching the best teams in the world compete and showcase their robots. It was incredible to get the opportunity to see our hero teams compete in person and to meet and learn from them. Our initial goal was to make sure that we didn’t embarrass ourselves and look like we didn’t belong there.”
The Durban branch of the SAIMC made a donation towards Team Texpand’s costs, and challenges all other branches of the SAIMC to do the same in 2024. Texpand is always looking to partner with companies that are committed to expanding STEM skills in South Africa.
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