Hoërskool Linden learners took part in the World Robot Olympiad 2018 in Pretoria.
Grade 11s Nina Hugo and Wilmari Coetzer joined a number of other teams from across the country at the national tournament held at the Tshwane University of Technology on 29 September, placing second in their category.
The theme for this year’s tournament was ‘food matters’, with most teams designing robots that could help improve the future of agriculture and environmental sustainability.
“We took part in the open category, where we followed the route of food security, sustainability and nutrition,” Hugo said.
Coetzer said, “Our idea was to show a relationship between fish and plants that can be automated by the use of robotics.”
Their project aimed to show a symbiotic relationship between the two species, resulting in plants growing 17 times faster with the help fish breeding and feeding the whole year long.
Coetzer added, “Both of us do many activities at the school, but being part of the robotics team is something that really makes you feel part of a family.”
This was the first project that the girls took part in independently, which they feel was a great success.
Hugo continued, “I love robotics, especially the whole programming aspect behind it as well as building the mechanics. It is a fun way to take the first steps into engineering, which is something that I can see myself studying in the future.”
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