The Robocup Junior New Zealand competition was held in the Dunedin City Baptist Church in Concord, and attracted more than 130 contestants from around the country. Sponsors include Dunedin robotics and automation firm Scott Technology — and already a former winner of the challenge has been taken on as an electrical apprentice in the company. Scott Technology representative Donald Lidell said the competition encouraged children to view robotics as a "career pathway" and it was great to see it actually functioning that way. Not long ago, the company had to employ people from overseas, but "now we are employing our own children", Mr Lidell said.
Entrants — either in teams or working individually — made entries in three different categories, soccer, "search and rescue" and theatrical. Theatrical entries included a piano-playing robot created over about six months, by 15-year-old Palmerston North boy Charlie Mollard. The mechanical pianist, complete with glowing blue eyes, received enthusiastic applause from the crowd. Charlie said he was happy by the performance and it was "quite cool" to see other peoples’ creations.
Two pupils from Otago Boys’ High School, Daniel Visser (14) and Aaron Nelson (13) created a series of robots that danced and performed tricks, centred around "Blue", a robot created using an Elmo toy.
Daniel said the competition was "quite enjoyable" and it was inspirational seeing what other people had come up with. Present at the event was Dale Bowen, chairman of the Wanaka-based Aspiring Computer Science Trust. The trust was already running coding classes for children, and encouraged children to teach each other.
Mr Bowen’s son, who was passionate about coding, was already involved in the project, along with other young coders. Mr Bowen said the trust was seeking sponsorship to create a "Coding Cave" with all the technology the children would need. It would not only be a place in which to learn but an area where children with a shared interest in robotics could hang out and socialise.
