Robots are taking over at Alberni District Secondary School.
The school's Robotics Club will be hosting a Vex Robotics Competition for the first time ever this year. The tournament will give Port Alberni residents a chance to check out a robotics competition hosted by local high school students. (An early-November date for the tourney has had to be postponed and will be rescheduled.)
Teacher Erika Tuomi helped to start the Robotics Club at the school in 2022 because she saw a need for it. Tuomi, who has a background in civil engineering, says that the club is mostly student-driven.
"I'm just here to steer them in the right direction," she said.
The Robotics Club uses science, engineering and technology to produce machines (or robots) that can replicate or substitute for human actions. Each year, the club takes part in various robotics competitions on Vancouver Island, but this is the school's first time hosting one. It's actually the opening tournament of the season, said Tuomi, so it should draw some keen teams who are hoping to get an early start on the competition.
"It's a fun way to teach math and science," Tuomi said. "There are kids here who are looking at future careers in engineering or in the STEM area, and this is such a good opportunity for them to work together and work as a team."
Hayden Stringer, a Grade 10 student at ADSS, has been a member of the Robotics Club since he was in Grade 8. He explained that the tournament will be a "High Stakes" Vex Robotics competition, meaning that robots will compete on a field to complete various objectives — for example, placing rings on stakes or climbing a ladder. Some of the robots are autonomous, meaning they run entirely on code, while others are controlled by human drivers.
Teams compete to obtain the most points per round in order to win the tournament.
"It's really fun to watch," Stringer said. "These are quick matches, but they're exciting. It's cool to see robots that have been built by other students."
Sophia Harris, another Grade 10 student, has also been involved in the club since it started. She agreed that the competition is a fun event, both for participants and spectators.
"It's high-energy," she laughed. "It doesn't feel like work — it feels like you're just having fun with your friends."
The event, which is still in final planning stages, will be held at the ADSS Gym and will be open to the public. Tuomi said it will give people an opportunity to see what the club has been up to.
"It would be great to see some elementary school students there too," she said. "That way they get to see what they can do when they get to high school."
(EDITED: The tournament, originally scheduled for Nov. 2, has been postponed and a new date has not yet been announced. The Alberni Valley News received this new information after our deadline for the Oct. 30 print edition.)
