Joey Wilson’s robot sumo wrestler is small, intricate, spewing electrical wires and tough enough to make it to provincial championships.
After a gold win in in the local B.C. Skills competition’s sumo robot contest, the John Stubbs Memorial school Grade 7 student is heading to the provincial championships in Abbotsford on April 17 to compete for another title.
“It was a really cool experience,” Wilson said.
All three competitors and winners in the local category are from John Stubbs. The Grade 8 team of Jamie Grant and Linden Lacon won silver and Sean Wilson, also Grade 8, finished third.
For the contest students had to build from scratch a six volt, 13-centimetre square sumo robot designed to push another robot out of a one metre square ring. All materials for the robot must be constructed by the student, except for the wire and gearbox.
“This was so fun because I got to tinker around with everything,” Wilson said. “And I built this. I feel really good because I came out with something, I came out with a robot. And a trip to Abbotsford, for that matter.”
Wilson’s robot went through three rounds of three fights, winning eight of the nine total bouts to take the top title.
“It’s pretty exciting. I’m really nervous about how it’s going to go,” Wilson said. “I try to not go in cocky but go in confident.”