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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, April 29, 2016 | 8 King's aims to make second time at FIRST count by Nathan Howes Special to the Beaver King's Christian Collegiate's (KCC) robotics team is determined to make its second trip to the FIRST Championship count. The 4519 King's Mechavaliers, which participates at the FIRST Robotic Competition (FRC) level, is involved in the tournament in St. Louis, Mo., this week (April 27-30). The Oakville group is coming off recent showings at the FRC Greater Toronto Central Regional and North Bay Regional, where it reached the semifinals and finals, respectively. The latter resulted in qualifying for the championship tourney, the second appearance for the group since forming in the 2012-13 school year. "It's amazing spending time with the students and seeing what they can do. Even though they're fully motivated in the classroom, we can actually use it and turn it around for them. We have a lot of students who have a huge passion for robotics and engineering," said Erik Sandqvist, robotics mentor and physics teacher. The 4519 King's Mechavaliers came to fruition with the help of Sandqvist and fellow robotics mentor, This robot has already made its way to St. Louis, Mo., for the competition. | submitted photo Kyle Batterink, a math and computer science teacher. Sandqvist wanted to build androids as part of his physics course while Batterink aspired to get vex robotics integrated in his computer science program. A third adviser, Jason Villa, from Pratt & Whitney Canada (United Technologies), joined this year. "We started off with a very small team. In our first year, we did very well. We were the highest-ranked rookie team at the Waterloo Regional (in 2013). We also got the Rookie All Star Award," said Sandqvist. The Waterloo Regional result gave the squad its initial entry in the FIRST Championship. Students who started the team with Sandqvist and Batterink in Grade 9 are returning to the contest in Grade 12. "It's nice to see them developing real passion and drive for something. These guys are fully committed to it. They balance their schoolwork and do this. It's just incredible," said Sandqvist. At each event, tasks are always the same, similar to a "medieval competition," Sandqvist said, as the team has to break through barriers and take control of the rival's tower by scoring boulders. "It's always three versus three, so we're always paired up with someone against another three. For the qualifiers, it's all randomized and then we pick alliances towards the end," said Sandqvist, noting there are 18-20 core members on the squad. Connor Adams, a mechanical lead, was excited when the team qualified for the FIRST Championship a second time, he said, as the group has been working hard to earn a return. "Being able to do that again is a big accomplishment for the team. I know a lot of members, including myself, have been around for the team's lifespan. It's exciting to go back. It's a great experience," said Adams, a Grade 12 student. This year's robot has no name, but previous androids have been assigned them based on "things that have been said in the season or what they do," Adams said, and each year the unit is designed off a game the team plays. The current machine is less than a foot in height for strategic purposes. "We have a six-week period from when we get the game to when the robot has to be in a bag and hands off at that point. In that time, it's the design, manufacturing, programming, anything we want to have on the robot... it's pretty stressful," said Adams. The KCC student joined the team in Grade 9 because it seemed interesting to "build a robot that was roughly the size of me and weighed 200 pounds," Adams said. Being with the group since inception has taught him about leadership. "It has allowed me to not only learn what's going on with the robot and how to build and design for industrial applications, but also to guide team members that are new or don't fully understand what's going on," said Adams. With a lifelong interest in science, Westyn Summers, human player, became a 4519 King's Mechavaliers member as a way to get involved in the school, he said. "I put in a lot of work every single season. It feels really good to compete and win something, especially qualifying for the world (championship), where we're playing against the best teams," said Summers, Grade 12. SOMETHING BIG IS COMING TO OAKVILLE! Free adMissiOn & Free ParkinG eVerY saturdaY 8aM ­ 4PM starts sat., May 28th thru. to sat., sept. 24th ONE DAY ONLY S at u r D a y, M a y 7 t H , 9 a M - 2 p M BuY lOCal experience one of the largest outdoor markets in the Gta every saturday this summer. 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