Young Geraldton robotics champs head to Perth for State coding competition

Young robotics champs came from as far as Mount Magnet to put their coding skills to the test in a regional competition at the weekend.

Champion Bay Senior High School on Saturday hosted the Mid West regional heat of the FIRST Lego League competition, with volunteers from Curtin University and Main Roads also lending a hand.

Fourteen teams spent the day fine-tuning their Lego robots to complete different challenges, with each group competing to see whose could complete the most tasks in just 21/2 minutes.

A team from Nagle Catholic College and another comprising students from different schools across the Mid West were crowned the winners of the regional heat, with both invited to compete in the State championships at Curtin University in Perth on December 11.

Champion Bay Senior High School science, technology, engineering and mathematics co-ordinator Hollie Roberts organised the Geraldton heat for the second consecutive year.

She said students loved the challenge and enjoyed learning skills which could secure them employment in the future.

“We are already starting to have to code our own equipment for specifically what we want,” she said.

She said Geraldton teams have had past wins at State and National level, with one local team invited to compete at the FIRST Lego League world championships in Japan before the event was cancelled due to the COVID pandemic.