Success at the robotics competition “Sigulda Robot Cup 2016”
On Saturday, 27 February 2016 the “Sigulda Robot Cup 2016” took place in Sigulda, with members of the Preiļi robotics club also taking part. The competition in Sigulda is one of the biggest robotics competitions held in Latvia, and it takes place in cooperation with the State Education Content Centre (VISC).
14 participants from Preiļi took part in the competition (one of the most numerously represented teams) in various events, including Mini Sumo, line following, folkrace, Lego Sumo, Lego Folkrace competitions and the electronics exhibition. What does each of these events mean? – You can find out in the competition rules (PDF).
It should be noted that the line followers and folkrace robots were 100% designed and built by the participants themselves, including most of the parts being modelled in 3D programs and printed with a 3D printer. In the Mini Sumo competition, on the other hand, SumoBoy robots purchased from the RTU robotics club were used, which have just now been entered in a Kickstarter campaign to seek significant funding – the project can be supported by anyone in the world.
Congratulations to Matīss Buks (Preiļi 1st Primary School, grade 9) on 1st place in the folkrace competition, Matīss Dambītis (Preiļi State Gymnasium, 2.D) on 3rd place in the line follower competition, Linards Šmeiksts (RTU, 2nd-year student) on 2nd place in the electronics exhibition. We received the organisers’ special prize as a well-organised team!
The competition was strong enough, as in total 179 participants and 187 robots took part in the competition, including 21 electronics works! Besides the competition participants, there were also more than 70 spectators.
Thank you to the other competition participants (Alens Šņepsts and Toms Vilcāns from Preiļi 1st Primary School, Lauris Matisāns, Erlends Zagorskis, Eduards Lipiniks, Iļja Isajevs, Ilgmārs Rubīns from PVĢ) for diligently preparing for the competition and for a fairly successful start (some were a little short of luck to reach a prize place), and we wish you luck in the next competitions! By taking part in this competition we gained experience for future activities and also represented Preiļi with honour!
The Preiļi Robotics club sessions are organised at the Preiļi State Gymnasium, in cooperation with the Preiļi District IT Centre and the Children and Youth Centre, and bring together participants from different schools – Preiļi State Gymnasium, Preiļi 1st Primary School and Preiļi Secondary School No. 2. PVĢ graduates, now RTU students, Armands Upenieks and Linards Šmeiksts provide training and consultations! Pupils’ parents are also actively involved in the robotics club (especially worth noting are Matīss Buks’s dad and Iļja Isajevs’s dad).
Thank you to Uldis Čerpakovskis, the home economics teacher of Preiļi 1st Primary School, for the support in creating the folkrace track, which was very important in order to be able to build and test folkrace robots (building the folkrace track was teamwork in which club members were involved in various ways). Thank you to Ginta Meikulāne and Linda Madelāne for photographing the events of the competition.
The “Sigulda Robot Cup 2016” was like a celebration for robotics enthusiasts! Thank you to the organisers for the work put into organising the event!
Linda Madelāne, club member,
Juris Erts, organiser of the robotics club’s work
