Battle of the bots

More than 100 Kelowna students left their classrooms and took their problem-solving skills to a robot battleground.

The second annual Sumo Bot Competition has grown in size by nearly 20 teams from last year, and creator Murray Chalmers said the enrollment list for the robotic fun is increasing.

“One of the initiatives the provincial government education department wants is coding and problem solving, and this is exactly that kind of stuff they are looking for,” said Chalmers.

Children from nine different schools programmed and built their own miniature robots and had them battle it out to see who had the best one.

“It is real-time problem solving, not just out of a textbook, 'do this question and give this answer,'” he said. “There are issues kids have to deal with, they fix it and they continue on.

Teams are composed of two students and many teachers were helping guide students during the day-long competition.

“We don’t really have any sports teams at our school but we have a robotics team,” said Heather McIntosh a Kelowna teacher. “Our team works together to problem solve, and even when we got here, the robots weren’t working properly.”

The winner is determined by a one-on-one battle after a round-robin tournament.

“If you push the other robot off the ring, or if you flip the other robot, or if you make the other robot not have the will to fight,” said Chalmers.

A trophy is awarded to the first, second, third and fourth-place finishers.

But for Chalmers, the best part of the day is the lesson the children learn.

“I think the highlight for the day is that the kids being able to adapt to the problems they are running into as opposed to 'I give up,'” said Chalmers.

“I’ve seen kids share pieces and programs because they are stuck and someone just comes over from another school and helps them out – that’s the coolest part.”

Chalmers said the plan is to go even bigger next year.