Barry Coulter
The Masters of Robots are back, having matched robotic skills with the nation's best.
The Mount Baker Secondary School robotics teamed recently returned from the Canada-Wide Skills Competition in Moncton, New Brunswick, where the robots faced off against teams from nine other provinces and territories.
Connor Dickeson, Thomas Keehn, Ryley Holliday and Traycer Walker, under the direction of instructor Bill Walker, came home from Nationals with the Bronze medal.
Earlier in the spring, the team won Gold at the BC competition.
The actual competition features a closed off course with obstacles and parts littered inside. The robots, controlled by a driver, must collect the parts and build a wooden boat in under four minutes. Teams advance on a points-based scoring system.
The Skills Canada competition has a number or rules that the 'bots must adhere to, such as being smaller than six cubic feet. The Mount Baker 'bots are powered by 12-volt DC batteries and can't exceed 240 watts.
In addition to Walker, the students also get support from John Milner, a local machinist.
The students work from the start of the fall semester to build their robots for the Skills Canada competition. Walker does his recruiting in September to find students that would be interested in participating and then they plan out their builds.
Three of the team members (minus Traycer Walker) appeared at Cranbrook City Hall for Monday night's regular Council meeting, to give a demonstration of the boat-building competition.