THEY’VE named their contraption DAB, short for “Dodgy, at best”.
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But don’t let the name fool you, the first ever Oxley High School robotics team won’t be intimidated when their machine takes on the might and prestige of Sydney and Macquarie universities at a national robotics competition in March.
The high school team will take on more than 40 teams in the “First Power Up” competition and if Oxley’s machine defies its moniker, they could take on the world’s best later in the year.
Maths and computing teacher Josh Vigar is leading the school’s first endeavour into competitive robotics and he said Oxley should be well-placed to take on the challenge.
“Oxley high has always had an excellent reputation for computing and technology,” Mr Vigar told The Leader.
Oxley high has always had an excellent reputation for computing and technology.
- Maths and computing teacher Josh Vigar
“For example, Matthew Fraser came first in the state when he went through here.
“Last year, we had a student come third in the state.
“So, we’ve always done really well in software design.”
The team’s final design will be put through a range of tests essentially asking the machine to negotiate obstacle courses while picking up and moving objects.
The students only got their machine moving on Thursday, but they’re looking forward to testing it against the best.
Mr Vigar said the school won’t be intimidated when it heads to Sydney in a few month’s time.
“No, it’s going to be a barrel of laughs, because what’s happened in the past with other team is that, say for example, if we had a problem with our robot, one of their mentors will come over and help,” he said.
“It’s all about helping each other and everyone having a lot of fun.”
It’s clearly a passion project for the students and Mr Vigar, who’ve been spending many hours during the school holidays working on the project.
“This is the most fun we have at school,” Mr Vigar said.
“For people like me, if this had been me at school when I went through, I would hate to think how many hours I would put towards it.
“We’re doing 30 hour weeks here are school, in the school holidays with the students.”