Pictured L-R: Haley Burnouf, Teacher Dave Dalton, Neil McCallum and Ethan McKenzie at Sask Polytech's Robot Rumble. (Submitted photo/Dave Dalton)

By Martin Martinson

Saskatchewan Robotics competition

Île-à-la-Crosse’s Rossignol High stands out at Robot Rumble

Jun 7, 2022 | 10:29 AM

It was a standout showing for Île-à-la-Crosse’s Rossignol High School at Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s 2022 Robot Rumble.

Ninety students from more than 20 high schools across the province attended this year’s event in Saskatoon Wednesday, with Rossignol’s Ethan McKenzie and Neil McCallum taking first and second prize in the Modified Robots category.

McKenzie, a Grade 10 student, claimed top prize with his robot McEthan, which included a $1,500 tuition credit to a Saskatchewan Polytechnic program in the School of Mining, Energy and Manufacturing and $250 cash. However, far more than the prize, he said it was the experience that stood out in his first year at the event.

“It was amazing. When I was finally able to hold that trophy I felt like a real champion and I was able to make my team proud,” McKenzie said. “Overall it was a good experience to meet new people, new faces, and just have a fun time.”

McKenzie was also quick to share credit with the second-place winner, his classmate, Neil McCallum.

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“Neil helped us with our robots and kind of taught us about what he’s learned in the past,” he said.

Pictured L-R: Rossignol High School’s Ethan McKenzie with his robot McEthan won first place, Neil McCallum with his robot Spedro took home second place, and Haley Burnouf with her robot Simon took fifth place. (Submitted photos/Dave Dalton)

For McCallum, this marked his third year of making the robots, though his first at the Sask Polytech competition, after it had been cancelled the last two years due to the pandemic. Awarded $1,000 tuition credit to a Saskatchewan Polytechnic program in the School of Mining, Energy and Manufacturing and $150 cash, he too said it was an enjoyable experience to attend.

“I was happy to be able to go to the competition this year, because COVID had cancelled the other two, and winning second place was a lot better than not being able to go at all,” he said.

Two of four students involved with the high school robotics course in Île-à-la-Crosse, Grade 10 Haley Burnouf also attended the competition and took home fifth place with her robot, Simon.

The competition saw SUMObots face-off against each other in a ring, with the goal of trying to knock or push their opponent’s robot out of the ring. The SUMObot that stayed in the ring the longest won.

Robotics teacher at the high school, Dave Dalton called it special to be able to return to the Robot Rumble event this year, and see the students enjoy the fruits of their labour.

“It’s always so much fun that day, and I think this year was even a bit more special, kind of getting out of the COVID side of things and getting things going again,” he said. The students began the work on their sumo-bots in September and each robot probably has 75 to 100 hours of work time put into it. So it’s nice to see their hard work pay off.”

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1