The Penticton Robotics Club, made up of students from Penticton Secondary School and Princess Margaret Secondary School, took home the winner's banner at the Canadian Pacific Regionals from Feb. 26 to March 1.
The team was one of 60 from across Canada and out of the United States participating in the First Robotics Competition.
Out of the individual qualifiers, the team earned a 38th position, and formed an alliance with the number-one qualifying team out of Hawaii, the Hawaiian Kids.
Together with another Hawaiian team, the three took a single loss in round four of the playoffs, before coming back with a win to take them back to the finals.
In the finals, they squared off with the alliance that had previously beat them.
Over the three final matches, it was the Penticton and Hawaii teams who emerged victorious, taking two out of three games with scores of 193 to 114 and 178 to 130. Their one loss was close, with a score of 153 for the Penticton alliance to the opponents' 162.
The First Robotics challenge is different every year, and involves a series of tasks that a robot must complete with speed and precision.
The challenge this year was multifaceted, and included placing tubes on "coral" branches, balls in an elevated scoring trough, and parking the robots so that they can be lifted on chains.
The team is supported by community fundraising, which covers the expenses for the parts for the robot and the travel for events like the regional competition in Victoria.
Ways to support the team can be found at their website, pentictonrobotics.ca.
The matches can be viewed online at the First Robotics Competition website
