This year, Old Collegian Gareth Bodle (Parnell, 1970-74) invited King’s College and some local schools in the area to compete in a new Auckland leg of the competition, which normally was held in Napier.
“This competition involves the creation of an underwater remote controlled robot to then race in an obstacle course, collect kaimoana and search for parts of a shipwreck,” says Head of Physics, Bryan Sapsworth. “The students needed to also present to a panel about their experiences with the Aquabot.”
The students had to answer questions about what the retrieved, which required study of NZ shipwrecks, invasive species and Kaimoana beforehand. There were five disciplines in total, with the students rotating through each section during the day.
The teams were:
Yellow Submarine – Jackson Parker, Jack Matthews, Dante Ng and Jonty Cook
HMS Gerry – Gerry Wang, Runshan Liu, Jared Chan, Dominic Tong. Joshua Olliver
Aquatic Kings – Sam Scott and Benjamin Woolley.
The placings:
Shipwreck – 1st Yellow Submarine
Invasive Species Survey – 3rd Yellow Submarine
Kaimoana – 2nd Yellow Submarine, 3rd HMS Gerry
Presentation – 1st Yellow Submarine
Obstacle Course – 2nd Aquatic King’s.
The overall trophy went to a team from Hobsonville Point Secondary School who had won the competition last year and also went to the USA to compete.
“The students loved the challenge of making a different type of robot and learning how to solder the circuit boards. The students enjoyed the challenge of answering questions, which appeals to the King’s students,” says Bryan.
