2 P.E.I. students headed west for robotics competition

Two high school students from the Kinkora, P.E.I., area are preparing to compete in anational robotics competition later this month.

Alexander Phillips and Nicholas Hendersonboth attend Kinkora Regional High School.

Next week they will be heading to Winnipeg to represent the province in the two-day robotics event at the Skills Canada National competition.

Phillips and Henderson were chosen to attend the national event after they took home gold medals at the provincial Skills Canada competition in March.

The Grade 12 students said they eachput in more than 30 hours of work to prepare for the trip, spending their free time after school building and testing their robots in one of the school's science labs.

The pair built and designed their own robots under the guidance of their teacher-adviser and the school's vice-principal, Ryan McAleer. Most of the parts for their robots were courtesy of the school's robotics class.

Brand new experience

At the national competition, Phillips and Henderson will run their robots through a series of obstacles.

One of my great passions is learning new things.- Alexander Phillips, Grade 12 student

They will also use the them to pick up andlaunch foam footballs into various containers.

Phillips said he feels fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn some new skills by preparing for his trip.

"I'd never touched a robot before February," he said.

"One of my greatpassions is learning new things. So this is the best learning experience, to be in this, and be immersed in a whole new skill," he said.

Acquiringskills for a future career

Hendersonsaid while working on home-built robots has been challenging forhe and his partner, they have had a great deal of support and guidance from their teacher.

He added that one of the best parts of being in the school's robotics club is that it allowed him to acquire skills that he can apply to his future career.

"I plan to pursue a career in mechanical engineering after school and this is really exactly what this is. Along with electricalstuff too," Hendersonsaid.

"I would classify myself as a very mechanical hands-on person. I enjoy building things so learning mechanical skills like this I find very useful."

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