A three-day experience in Dallas, Texas earlier this month for four members of the Morris Advanced Robotics team brought learning to a global level.
Team Blue Bombur guided by Morris School teacher JP Jamieson represented Manitoba at the VEX Robotics World Championships, the largest robotics competition in the world, from May 6-8, finishing with a record of 3-7.
“The event was a great opportunity to play with and against teams from around the world, and to see their robots up close,” Jamieson said. “Being a part of the opening ceremony was a really fun experience.”
Chief engineer Josh Hildebrandt, 17, was the flag bearer for Team Canada on opening day.
Through fundraising efforts over the last couple months, the Morris team was able to bring in enough funds to support the purchase of equipment to replace hardware on loan for the 2024-25 school year.
“Fundraising allowed the purchase of new parts like thinner gears that allowed for a more compact robot [at the championships],” shared Cody Dueck, 15, mechanic and coder for the team. “The machines have less weight, are less bulky, and allow for mechanisms that score points. Our old model would overheat because we had to sacrifice weight.”
Andrew Hildebrandt, 15, communications, added, “proper construction is smooth and aligned with low friction for the robot.”
Funds raised from a 50/50 draw and jersey raffle at the Spring Fling Craft Sale, alongside local business sponsorship and private contributions, allowed the team to travel to the competition.
“We are thankful to all the sponsors,” said Dueck.
Lead driver and logistics overseer Kayden Grattan, 15, was quick to stress that a huge part of the team’s success was having the support of the remaining class members in Morris.
“Although Team Blue Bombur didn’t qualify for the elimination playoffs, we finished higher than expected,” added Jamieson. Of 820 teams competing, Blue Bombur finished 221 in the skills competition.
Back in the classroom a week after their experience, the team members were enthusiastic.
“We learned a lot and saw many different ways of approaching the same problem. There is no one set solution to a task,” commented Dueck. “All robots perform the task, yet some do it better. They might be stronger or faster.”
Andrew appreciated that “the big event allowed for more education. We played alongside teams from other countries like New Zealand and Senegal, learned from how they do things, and can now integrate that into our own designs.”
Teacher Jamieson’s pride is evident as he shares his philosophy of letting the students learn from each other.
“They can run the show themselves,” he said, content knowing that as he moves to a different school next year, they have the experience and knowledge to guide them.
Dueck is thankful for his mentor.
“He has brought us together into a team and we’re excited because he will grow other teams [in the province].”
Andrew Hildebrandt added, “Mr. Jamieson makes things happen. He provides opportunities and learning experience and will always find a way to get things done.”
For Jamieson, the best part of the Worlds experience was “when they revealed next year’s game, you could already see our team members’ planning excitedly for how to build a new robot for the new challenge.”
Anyone interested in mentoring the robotics team next season or learning more about it can reach out to Jamieson at jjamieson@rrvsd.ca.
