When a performance by a Dunedin robotic band reaches a crescendo in Auckland tomorrow, confetti will fly ... hopefully.
A group of Dunedin school pupils will represent Otago in the RoboCup junior finals in Auckland tomorrow.
The winning senior theatre team — John McGlashan College pupil Sebastian Sole (17), Columba College pupil Annabelle Ritchie (16), Logan Park High School pupil Henry Eden-Mann (14) and Balmacewen Intermediate pupil Beldon Holt (12) — created the robotic band Underscore.
The two-minute set the band is programmed to play is We Will Rock You by Queen, Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple, Fur Elise by Ludwig Van Beethoven and Trololo by Eduard Khil.
An empty wine bladder is used as an air supply reservoir for the whistle.
Henry said to create the right whistle sound required software to regulate pressure, a robot to open and close a valve and a server to determine the pitch.
Beldon said the team would dance on stage as the band performed and every team member had packed an air guitar.
The band performance would end with a robot firing a party popper.
The robot sending the confetti skyward was still in its "testing phase" and would hopefully be ready for the performance, he said.
University of Otago information science teaching fellow Chris Edwards helped the team build the band at an after-school mechatronics programme.
The programme gave pupils the opportunity to extend their knowledge about technology, he said.
The party popper robot was the "newest addition" and had "the most to gain and the most to lose".
The robot had one shot, as the competition rules did not allow second chances.
Henry said he had confidence in the new robot.
"It’s going to be good."
Other Otago 2016 regional winners: Junior theatre, Tobias Devereux (Kavanagh College); Junior search and rescue, Maia Robertson (Independent); Junior soccer, Eli Gotlieb and Marcus Scott (Tahuna Normal Intermediate School); Senior search and rescue, Josh Dunlop (King’s High School); Premier search and rescue, Bill Campbell (Balmacewen Intermediate School); Senior soccer, Hamish Cadzow, Josh Rademeyer and Matthew Wong (King’s High School); Best programming prize, Annabelle Ritchie and Chloe Lai (Columba College), Bill Campbell (Balmacewen Intermediate), Henry Eden-Mann, Beldon Holt, Annabelle Ritchie, Sebastian Sole (Information Science Mechatronics Club).
