Canton Charter Academy Team Wins at Michigan Regional Robofest

SOUTHFIELD, MI (04/26/2011)-- Twenty-one teams from Michigan have advanced from the Michigan Regional Robofest Championship to compete in the 12th annual Robofest World Championship to be held at Lawrence Technological University on May 7.

Here are the winners in the Michigan regional competition held at Lawrence Tech April 16:

Junior Exhibition First Place, Canton Charter Academy Remotics of Canton, led by Coach Bharat Ajmera

Robofest is an international competition of autonomous robots – computer-programmed to act independently and not radio-controlled – that encourages students to have fun while learning principles of science, technology, engineering, and math. Students design, construct and program the robots, and adult coaches are not allowed to assist during the events. Teams compete in the junior division (grades 5-9) or senior division (grades 9-12), using a variety of computer programming languages to participate in various competitions such as games, exhibition, fashion show, and dance using various types of robots.

Robofest is an annual competition inaugurated by Lawrence Tech Associate Professor CJ Chung in 2000. Every year more than 1,500 students from as many as 10 states and five countries compete.

The scenario in this year's competition is that three pipes of a deepwater oil well are leaking. An autonomous robot must be sent to cap the leaking pipes, retrieve broken pipe assemblies, and collect data. Students need to solve math problems to achieve these missions.