Llandudno shine at world robotics competition

Three pupils from Llandudno Primary School jetted off to the World Robotics Olympiad (WRO) in Pretoria over the weekend, having recently won gold at the regionals.

Grade 6 pupils Connor De Allende, Matthew Curtis, and Luke Holland represented their school, remaining "motivated for weeks, and when faced with a high-pressure situation, they handled it remarkably well", said a principal, Alexander Molteno.

"The boys overcame many challenges to reach the national competition, and they can be so proud of how far they've come. Knowing what the challenge was and having our own mat allowed us to practice and code at school ahead of the event," he said.

"The boys were incredibly dedicated, coming every day to practice, and they worked well together to do their best."

The WRO is a challenge-based competition where teams must design, build, and program an autonomous robot to solve specific tasks on a randomly set-up field. The primary category in which Llandudno pupils competed was the WRO RoboMission.

A key element of the competition is that the robots need to be able to make their own decisions during the run.

The challenge for the elementary level was space-themed, with missions that included:

• Fueling the rocket: Transporting a piece of rocket fuel to a launch pad.
• Launching the missile: Guiding the rocket along a rail for points.
• Collecting satellites: Identifying and collecting four randomly placed satellites and placing them on their corresponding colored blocks. This was the most challenging task for our teams.
• Collecting space debris: Gathering three pieces of space debris and returning them to the start area.
• Bonus points were also available for not moving astronauts or a barrier on the field, and a surprise rule was introduced on the day of the competition to offer additional points.

Coding and Robotics teacher at the school, Darren Osborn, said: "I am really proud of all the effort the boys have put in, all that they have learned along the way, and the excellent result they managed to achieve."

To qualify for the WRO national competition, a team must win a gold medal at a regional event. Llandudno pupils have been preparing since April, specifically for the WRO event, and one of their teams secured the top spot.

"This victory earned them the opportunity to compete at the national level in Pretoria, where they placed 6th in the country," Mr Osborn proudly said.