By Latifa Abdoulahi
On Saturday morning, 14 October, the first World Robotics In-house Olympiad (WRO) Competition took
place at the Joza Youth Hub and was organised by Awarenet.
The Joza Youth Hub is an initiative based in Joza offering a spectrum of after-school activities and projects for learners, varying from music-related projects to coding robots. Awareness provides computers in the lab at the Youth Hub, where learners get the opportunity to use computers and the Internet. Awarenet also teaches robotics to various learners from grade 6 to grade 11 from schools by teaching how to code a little driving robot with the help of a program on a laptop.
Learners from different schools in the Joza community and friends of the participants also
attended the competition to support their favourite teams. The three competing groups came from
different schools where Awarenet teaches them after school; one group is also taught directly at the
Joza Youth Hub. 13 robotics trainers from Awarenet teach them every week after school.
The three Robotics groups came together on Saturday and worked in groups of 4-7 to make their robots
fulfil specific tasks. One task involved figuring out how to push a ball off a ramp at a particular angle and
strength or how to push cubes into posing as containers into the Ships printed on the competition mat.
During the tasks, the participants worked on their own and without the help of their tutors. It was impressive to see how well they operated their robots and how they corrected their
programming mistakes on their own when needed. At the end of the competition, there was lunch for
everybody attending.
The winner of this last competition was a group from Cewu Primary School. Grade 7 learners,
Liyabona Balani (12), Avethandwa Adam (13), Chuma Adam (13), Mahle Mvalo (13), Meleza Zweni
(13), Lindokuhle Adam (14) and Olwethu Tesana (13) successfully programmed their robots to fulfil all
given tasks. After their victory, they revealed how anxious and nervous they were before the competition, even though they had had multiple robotics lessons with their tutor before.
This tension was present throughout the competition, particularly during the last part, when the learners had to program the robot to push a ball 1.5 meters away from a ramp without pushing the ramp off the mat. The winning Cewu Primary School group found this the most challenging task. But the tension disappeared, and they were all pleased and relieved when they were announced as the winning team.
The winners also expressed that they enjoy learning about coding because it helps them in mathematics.
This is because when coding the robot, you must think through the angles and numbers just as in a
mathematics class. It also teaches them to solve problems calmly and patiently since this is the only
way to solve issues within a program. Some of them are also interested in maybe choosing education
and job paths connected to technology, but when asked about their dream job, they simultaneously echoed, becoming soccer players!
