Guelph, Ont. high school robotic teams dominates world championships in Houston
High school robotics team from Guelph, Ontario. top of the world.
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School’s BeaverworX recently won the 2023 FIRST Robotics World Championship in Houston.
They were part of a partnership with two schools in California (Madera and Ventura) and one in Champaign, Illinois, and were the only Canadian team to reach the finals.
Michael Moore, Head of Technology at Our Lady of Lourdes and Head of BeaverworX, said:
“We are even more humbled to be working with a team that is bigger, has much better robots, has been around for 20-25 years, and has a budget four or five times ours. “
The FIRST Robotics World Championship competition has been held since 1992. More than 3,000 teams from 60 countries, including 200 from Canada, compete for the world robotics title.
BeaverworX entered this year’s competition ranked 13th in the state. To qualify for the worlds, they had to compete in the regional competition first.
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BeaverworX started in 2008 and started competing the following year. It wasn’t long before they faced other teams on the world stage.
“Over 50,000 people watched us perform on the field as an Alliance, and it was amazing,” said Moore. “The teamwork and how everyone works together was second to none.”
This robot was assembled by a student of Our Lady of Lourdes and works alongside three other robots from other teams in a series of tasks and demonstrations.
BeaverworX team captain and Grade 12 Dominik Wrobel said: “After every game, we had a team meeting to discuss game strategy. We were happy with how things went.”
Attending the World Championships was an exciting experience, but it can also be expensive, says Moore.
“We had four mentors drive the truck to Houston to save us $3,000,” Moore said, adding that airfare was $17,000 and hotels $6,000.
Winning will automatically enter BeaverworX into the 2024 World Championships. Moore said they are working to defend their championship and hope to partner with other Canadian teams.
“Canada has a lot of great teams and it’s great to be able to compete with them.”
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