A team of four Sault teens are looking forward to competing in the VEX Robotics World Championships in Dallas, Texas from April 25 to 27.
The team - consisting of École Notre-Dame-du-Sault students Sophie Barrette, Gaby Gutierrez, Luke Dallaire and Liam Spacek - qualified for a spot at the Worlds after winning an award from the judges for the craftsmanship of their robot at the Ontario Provincial Championships in Niagara Falls last month.
“We’re all super excited to go to the Worlds. It's been a while for the others but I’ve personally never been to the Worlds and I’m really looking forward to that experience,” Barrette said.
Barrette is a Grade 9 student at Notre Dame du Sault, Gutierrez and Spacek are in Grade 11 while Dallaire is in Grade 12.
“We’re also a little bit nervous because we’re going to be playing against the best. But we’re also pretty proud of how far we’ve come. We’ve worked really hard and I think all that hard work has paid off,” Barrette said.
It's a return visit to the Worlds for Gutierrez, having competed in a previous World Championships in Kentucky three years ago.
“I’m just excited to meet people and to make friends from around the world. I’m looking forward to going to Texas and enjoying the warm weather,” Gutierrez said.
“This’ll be my third Worlds,” Dallaire said, having been to previous World Championships - both in Kentucky - in 2018 and 2019.
“It’s still as exciting as it was the first year,” Dallaire said.
“It’s going to be my third time as well. It’s pretty competitive. There are always challenges that pop up in the competition. Things never go perfectly so it’s fun to problem solve and get those new experiences,” Spacek said.
The team began building their robot - named Rupert - in Oct. 2022.
Robotics tournaments involve teams of students - with robots they have designed - showing how well their mechanical creations can handle tasks such as picking up discs and shooting them into an opposing team’s net or picking up plastic balls and moving them from one container to another in a sporting environment under the observation of judges.
Dallaire said the game to be played at the Worlds in Dallas will be like a disc golf match.
“On either side of the field there’s a team’s basket and below the basket there is a low scoring zone, so if you miss your basket you give the opposing team one point,” Dallaire explained.
“Liam has added an oscillating ramp so that’s one thing we didn’t have at the Provincials. It shoots discs across the field into a high basket,” Barrette said of her teammate’s work.
“After each competition we try to improve the robot. We always go back and see what worked and what didn’t. After each competition we make some major adjustment to the robot,” Spacek said.
Notre Dame du Sault students have done well in robotics competitions in recent years.
The secret to the current Notre Dame du Sault team’s success could be that they simply enjoy what they’re doing.
“Every year in robotics there’s a new challenge. Every year there’s something new to explore,” Spacek said.
Similarly, Dallaire said “I like the ever changing challenge of the competitions.”
“I like learning new things. I like being part of a team that isn’t a sports team. I’m not saying sports doesn’t make you think but this really challenges me and keeps my brain going,” said Gutierrez, who as the team’s notebook manager keeps the team’s data logged and organized.
“I learned how to code this year. I also love going to competitions and meeting new people that like doing the same stuff as me. It’s just a really cool experience,” Barrette said.
Robotics - despite its intricate nature - is not a credit course at high schools such as Notre Dame du Sault.
It is an extracurricular activity.
“They put a lot of time and effort into it,” said David Spacek, Liam Spacek’s father and who - as a professionally trained engineer - serves as the Notre Dame du Sault robotics team’s coach.
“A lot of their success comes from their showing up to practices for about four to five hours a week. They're very dedicated and they put the time in.”
The team and its coach have been practicing at Spacek’s home on weekends.
Each of the four said their study of robotics has given them skills for the future, regardless of what career path they may choose.
“I like the things robotics has taught me and I think it’s put me on the path of some sort of engineering, whether it be mechanical or electrical. It’s helped me find a path,” Spacek said.
“My main goals are to be a pilot or an aeronautical engineer, so robotics helps out with things like that,” Dallaire said.
“I’d like to go into some type of computer engineering, so learning to code really helps with that. Robotics also teaches you a lot about teamwork and time management skills,” Barrette said.
“I want to be a veterinarian,” Gutierrez said.
“That’s way out there from robotics, but robotics teaches me how to be organized. And I like to say a robot is like an animal, just with different systems. That’s how I see it.”
The World Championships is one of the largest robotics events in the world, including 3,000 teams and more than 30,000 students from 40 countries across the globe from Grade 3 to post-secondary.
There will be over 800 secondary school teams in Dallas, about 20 of them - including Notre Dame du Sault - representing Canada.
“It’ll be interesting to see the different ways other teams tackle the same problem,” coach Spacek said.
“It’s exciting. I’ve always tried to instill in all the students that even though you’re coming from a smaller town or smaller school in northern Ontario, you can still develop the skills and know how to compete on the world stage.”
Spacek said he is grateful for support from sponsors - including Algoma Steel, Tenaris and PUC Services - in helping with the team’s expenses.