News Enver Creek robotics team satisfied with VEX results

 

​Who knew the home of Mickey Mouse was such a hub of culture?

Competing at the 2013 VEX Robotics High School World Championship in Anaheim, California last week, the Enver Creek Secondary robotics team - Rishabh Singal, Munraj Grewal, Pruby Dosanjh and Paul Nagra - was among more than 400 high school squads from around the world.

Students came from 20 different nations, and Enver’s pit area was stationed between teams from Detroit, Bangkok and Colombia.

“The diversity at this event was amazing,” said teacher/coach Travis Burroughs. “At one point in the day, all the teams from Puerto Rico paraded around banging drums and dancing.”

The competition was held April 17 to 20. On the first day, the Enver team learned their robot had been damaged during shipping and required repair; still, they went on to win several matches and placed 42nd in their division and 112th overall.

The only B.C. team that moved into the finals was Vancouver’s Gladstone Secondary, which fought hard to a third-place finish. The world champion title went to an American-New Zealand alliance.

Students earned their standings playing Sack Attack, which requires the robots to place sacks in designated spots on the field, including into troughs and at heights. Competitors can also remove their opponents’ sacks from these spots.

There were 408 competitors at the event, whittled down from the 6,000 teams in qualifying matches around the globe.

The Enver team is now hard at work on next year’s robot. They designed this year’s machine specifically for Sack Attack, but VEX unveiled a new game for next year that will challenge the students to come up with a different, innovative design, said Burroughs.