The Notre Dame du Sault robotics team — NDS Robotics — has returned home from Dallas, Texas after competing at the largest robotics competition in the world.
The NDS Robotics team competed in robot skills and achieved a ranking of 144th place out of 800 teams from over 50 countries competing at the VEX Worlds Robotics competition.
In match-play, the team competed in 10 round-robin games with six wins and four losses, finishing 20th in its division of 80 teams.
The team was selected to be an alliance partner by a Pennsylvania team to compete in the playoff rounds.
They were eliminated in the first round of the divisional playoffs but overall the team placed within the top one percentile of the approximately 10,000 teams worldwide registered in VEX Robotics this season.
During competition, NDS Robotics faced teams from China, Ireland and the U.S.
“The improvements the team built into their robot design and programming paid off as they were able to achieve a reliable win-point advantage during match-play which was a personal best for the team this season. The exposure and experience on the world stage they have gained is amazing,” wrote team coach David Spacek in an email to SooToday.
The NDS Robotics team consists of Liam Spacek, builder and driver, Gaby Gutierrez, engineering design notebook keeper, Sophie Barrette, programmer and Luke Dallaire, designer.
Coach Spacek wrote that he and the team are grateful for corporate and private donations that made it possible for NDS Robotics to make it to the competition.
They include:
- Algoma Steel
- PUC Services
- Tenaris Algoma Tubes
- MET Energy
- IDEA
- Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre
- Avery Construction
- Sault Ste. Marie Airport Development Corporation
- Professional Engineers of Ontario (Algoma Chapter)
- Floreani O’Toole Dool Orthodontist
- Soo Foundry
- Steel Speed
- Algoma Power Inc.
- Dr. Barbon Dentistry
- JD Aero
- Customs and Immigration Union Local 26
- Private donations
The NDS Robotics team is now looking forward to its final competition this season as they travel to Toronto next week to represent École Notre-Dame-du-Sault and the Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario at the Skills Ontario event.