NOT many can boast of placing in the top three in a global competition. But the members of Presentation College, Chaguanas’ robotics team sure can. The students placed third in a joint effort with three other countries at the First Global Challenge in Athens, Greece.
The seventh edition of the competition, held from September 26-29, featured students from over 190 countries. Its website says the idea behind the challenge was for one team from each country to “participate and focus the world on the amazing things that happen when kids from every country work together to solve problems through STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).”
This year’s theme was Feeding the Future, which focuses on sustainable food production.
“This year’s theme challenges teams to learn about and address the obstacles and opportunities to provide the global population with equitable, safe, nutritious, and environmentally responsible food,” the website adds.
Trinidad and Tobago’s team travelling included Xavier Blache, Kovid Capildeo, Xavier Edwards, Sameer Badree, Justin Basdeo and Sarmad Singh.
[caption id="attachment_1114118" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Presentation College, Chaguanas' robotics team members pose with their third-place medals from the 2024 First Global Challenge in Greece. -[/caption]
What they call the “ground team,” which also contributed to their efforts, included Vasudev Rampersad, Adam Baig, Naveen Singh, Avesh Ragoonath, Jamian Leopold, Vivek Bahadur Singh, and Aidan Singh.
Every year, the event provides teams with a kit in their home country, with parts such as steel rods, aluminium channels, motors, wheels, etc. The students then have to build a robot that meets specific criteria like size and ability to rise to a certain height.
There were 12 qualifying matches at the competition, from which 32 countries were selected for the semi-final rounds. For the finals, the qualifying teams were then split into alliances.
The challenge/game this year was a two-and-a-half-minute match in which one “alliance” battled another. An alliance in the challenge consisted of four different countries’ teams joining forces. Trinidad and Tobago teamed up with Estonia, Singapore and Guam, forming alliance eight.
The aim was to conserve water and energy and produce food. Then all six teams worked together as a “global alliance” to secure food and balance global resources to make a sustainable food system.
Coloured spheres were used to represent different elements – blue for water, green for energy, and orange for food. The robots, as well as selected human players, assisted in the process.
Blache, the team’s captain, told Newsday the experience was “a mix of excitement and education.”
[caption id="attachment_1114116" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Presentation College, Chaguanas' robotics team head engineer Justin Basdeo with the team's robot. -[/caption]
“The excitement came from seeing so many different people around my age from different countries who have the same passion. And then
