High school robotics team advancesto worlds

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By Mabell, Dave on April 13, 2019.

Students Julien Todd, Nolan Nishikawa, Amber Conarroe and Hannah Stephenson are part of the Cerberus Robotics Club that will be competing in the world championships next week in Houston. Herald photo by Ian Martens @IMartensHerald

Dave Mabell

Lethbridge Herald

dmabell@lethbridgeherald.com

Lethbridge high school students will soon be heading to Houston, after earning regional honours at the first Robotics Canada competition.

Nineteen computer science keeners from Winston Churchill and Chinook high schools will be competing in world championship events there from next Wednesday to Saturday.

Their coach, computer science teacher Nevin Morrison at Churchill, credits luck as well as skill for the invitation to Houston. The Lethbridge team – the Cerberus Robotics Club – was partnered with teams from Honolulu and Boise, Idaho, which “drafted” it.

“We were in the winning alliance.”

While the Lethbridge team came up with the $5,000 entry fee for the Calgary event, he says many of the 37 teams there – from many parts of the world – were well supported through university links or community organizations.

The challenge for the robots, Morrison explained, was to deliver cargo to a space station. Like hockey, the simulation event required defence as well as an effective offence.

After being declared the winner, the next challenge for the Lethbridge team was to line up passports – two students weren’t able to get that done – and to secure funds for the trip.

There’s another $5,000 US entry fee, Morrison says, on top of the cost of airfare, hotel rooms and meals.

“The community has already been pretty good to us,” with donations from Lethbridge businesses as well as individuals.

Others who are able to help out are urged to donate through the Cerberus club website or the Winston Churchill High site.

While some members of the club will be graduating this spring, Morrison says it contains students from Grades 9 to 12 from both schools. The Churchill group is a spinoff from the first club, at Chinook.

“They’re our future engineers,” he says.

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