“Cooperating is the only way the world can move forward.”
Representing BDA: Kameron Young ‘19, Katie Grainge ‘20, Ashlyn Lee ‘20, Yulia Isaeva ‘19, and Nadhiri Simons- Worrell ‘19 with their robot at the FIRST Global Robotics Challenge.
for speed and precise movements at the cost of being easy to push over. However, this problem did not prove to be fatal as the team was assisted by the other robots in their alliance. The team quickly gained the skill of being able to nimbly grab the balls and get out of the fray before being crushed! “While our team definitely encountered challenges, they were minor when compared to the struggle of teams such as Iran, Team Hope, and Afghanistan,” continues Kameron. “When I interviewed Team Iran member, Alireza Khalili Katoulaei, she revealed that their government would not allow the robot kit into Iran. This meant the team had no interaction with the robot until they arrived in the US. The team had to Skype, email and send designs to a team
Clean competition: Teams were tasked with using robots to clear ‘contaminants’ from a river
of Iranian Americans in the US, who built the robot based on their designs. “He also explained that due to the time
difference, Team Iran had to wake up early in the morning because they wanted the US-based team to be comfortable while working on their robot.”
Despite their struggles, the team
remained positive and placed well in the competition. Katoulaei proudly stated, “Politics cannot stop friendship. We are all born on the same earth, so there are no differences between us, other than where we live.” Working with teams from around the world allowed the BHS girls of Team Bermuda to see the different ways that the competition could be approached, using multiple strategies. With 163 teams representing 157 countries in the competition, the team enjoyed seeing the different approaches other teams took when solving problems. Team Bermuda not only represented their country well, but gained valuable skills in important
areas like problem solving, communication, strategy and teamwork, to add to the technical skills developed through the coding and engineering of their robot. “Representing Bermuda was humbling and filled my whole team with pride. The knowledge that we were putting Bermuda on the map was an honour that each of us would love the opportunity to experience again,” says Kameron. “The FIRST Global 2017 Robotics competition introduced us to the diverse world of robotics. We met people from around the globe with whom we could share opinions and from whom we could learn and grow as engineers, technologists, scientists and humans. The experience was inspiring for us as a team of girls, not just from BHS, but also Bermuda. It proved that robotics is a worldwide necessity without the restrictions of gender, race, ethnicity, religion or age. My hope is that this competition will spark interest in engineering and robotics for not only Bermudian students, but also students around the world. Kameron also had the opportunity to talk to other students about their impressions of taking part in the competition. Sanja Ravichandar from Team USA explained, “It was a captivating experience and I hope it inspires more people from the community to learn robotics, especially girls.” Team Hope, a team made up entirely of
refugees, gave this advice: “Do not give up hope; work with whatever resources you have until you complete your goals.” Kameron says her favourite explanation of the competition was by Ivan Chayer from Team Argentina, who said, “The competition brings together countries and shows that there are no limits when solving problems. Cooperating together is the only way the world can move forward. Competitions like this prove that it is possible.”
Torchbearer Fall 2017 17
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