Parklands College, Sinenjongo, fly flag at robo contest
Pupils from Parklands College and Sinenjongo Secondary School represented South Africa at an international robotics competition in Germany last month.
Three teams from Parklands College and one Sinenjongo Secondary School team from Joe Slovo, which is mentored by Parklands College, were selected to represent the country in the World Robot Olympiad (WRO) International final, in Dortmund, on Thursday November 17.
The annual global robotics event incorporates science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem).
The teams were selected at the WRO national competition held in Johannesburg in September.
Parklands College’s director of innovation, Richard Knaggs, said the school’s Triple Tech team of Grade 5 pupils Elihle Hadebe, Isabella Ankiah and Tendeka Njukuya came sixth out of 852 teams from around the world and also won the Future Innovators Elementary category award for team spirit.
Their robot, the Amazing Water Rover, responds to emergencies and delivers water and medical supplies to rural communities.
The Techno Blade team of Grade 6 pupils Veer Atwaru, Matthew Francke and Luan Odendaal finished 19th out of 3 749 teams in the Robo Mission Elementary category. Mr Knaggs said their results confirmed that they are the top Robo Mission team across all age groups in South Africa.
The Robodog team of Grade 11 pupils Lethabo Nodoba and Johhny Zhu finished in 11th place, out of 313 teams, in the Future Engineers category, which according to Mr Knaggs was made up of mostly university and college students.
“This is a truly impressive achievement for two Grade 11 boys,” he said.
He said the Rock Boyz team of Grade 11 Sinenjongo pupils Elihle Zenzile, Wesley Dickson Madzivadondo and Prachazal Kimbini had taken 21st place out of 411 teams in the Robo Sports category.
“The 2022 World Robot Olympiad was truly magical, and we would like to thank all of the organisers, judges and volunteers for making this dream come true,” said Mr Knaggs.
