The Devil Marines from Rotorua Primary School. Photo / Lavinia Shepherd
The Devil Marines from Rotorua Primary School. Photo / Lavinia Shepherd
There were both shouts of joy and groans of despair during a buzz of activity last weekend as Rotorua hosted the AquaBots National Competition.
The AquaBots programme supports Years 3–13 students to design and build aquatic robots to undertake underwater challenges as part of a national competition, and aims to inspire students and help discover the next generation of Kiwi scientists and engineers.
Although hosted by Rotorua, the competition was held at the Otumoetai Pools in Tauranga, having to move venue from the Rotorua Aquatic Centre while its redevelopment work is carried out.
Rotorua Library technology educator Jessica Cathro said 44 teams from across the country took part, including from Northland, Masterton, Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Invercargill, Nelson and Christchurch.
About 174 Year 4 to Year 12 students attended the event. These were made up of 10 primary teams, 19 intermediate teams, seven high school teams, four kura kaupapa teams and six open teams.
Malfroy Primary attempting the obstacle course. Photo / Malfroy Primary
She said there was a steady buzz of activity the whole time.
“We had sole use of the pool, so everyone at the event was involved whether judging, supporting or participating.
“There were shouts of joy as teams successfully attempted parts of the activities such as placing the materials correctly under water or retrieving that last object, as well as groans as the ball fell off at the last minute or time was up.”
She said it was great to hear from parents and whānau who were really positive about students having the opportunity to be involved in these types of projects.
“It was great to see so many young people from all ages, stages and walks of life. We had girls from Zayed College in Auckland as well as young students from kura kaupapa presenting in te reo.
“We had such a diverse mix of teams showing that technology and science is for all people. The event also offers an opportunity for students to meet other kids who are interested in the same things and get ideas on how to develop their robots next year.”
Jessica says holding the event in Tauranga rather than the local aquatic centre added complexity with some of their normal judges, volunteers and swimmers being unable to attend. However, on the plus side, they had sole use of the pool which made things much easier for the teams.
She said the following teams won their section of the national AquaBots competition: The Devil Marines from Rotorua Primary (primary division), The Floating Toaster from Parua Bay School (intermediate division), and Rodney Rays from Rodney College (high school division).
The teams that won their divisions - primary, intermediate and high school - will be able to enter the international Seaperch competition in May 2023 in Maryland, USA.
Jessica says the open teams need to submit a video demonstrating their robot’s features and skills before progressing to the international MATE competition in June 2023 in the US. Team Tahi from the Te Aaka Mauri Young Engineers will have that opportunity.
“All the teams will need to upgrade and update their robots to be able to cope with the new challenges that the international competitions offer. If they decide to travel to the USA they will need to prepare and fundraise a significant amount of money as well.”
Jessica says they would not be able to run AquaBots programmes and the championships without their generous sponsors, judges and volunteers.
“We would like to express our thanks to Hayes International, Marine BioSecurity, Rata Foundation, The Lakes 380 and Te Putea Whakatupu trust for their support.”
