OXFORD – Three Oxford Academy and Central School students returned from Japan earlier this month after a weeklong stay to compete in a three-day international robotics tournament, RoboRAVE Japan.
Morgan Rogers, 12th grade, Jonah Loughren, 11th grade, and Aidan Rogers, 8th grade, travelled to Kaga, Japan on November 7 along with Oxford teacher and parent-chaperon Jon Rogers to compete in the Sumobot Challenge against teams from Taiwan, China, Japan, and Singapore.
The trio earned sixth place out of nine teams in the competition with their robot named 'Pancake,' but more than that, they were able to experience an entirely new way of life through their love of robotics.
Aidan said, "When you're in a place like that you can't really believe you're there. It's kind of hard to realize you're halfway across the world."
In April Oxford hosted the first ever RoboRAVE New York, welcoming teams from across the United States to compete in a number of categories with their robots. RoboRAVE Japan was on a much larger scale, with students from across the world competing in a huge venue dedicated to the tournament.
"I think part of the draw for me as a teacher is [RoboRAVE] is more about fun than it is about winning," said Jon. "Kids can actually get points for helping another team in the competition, even a team they're competing against. If they can learn and also work together, it's all the better."
The trip was made possible by the Kaga City Scholarship, administered by the mayor of Kaga, and also through RoboRAVE New York, making the expense for the trip low.
Jon said he and RoboRAVE New York Director Mark Muller, who is also an Oxford teacher, applied in September before being told in October that another school would be awarded the scholarship. A week later, they received a call saying the other school had opted out, and Oxford would be the recipient.
"Anytime we can get our kids to travel internationally they learn so much just from the experience," said Jon. "You could see them grow as we were there."
Jon said each robot had to be below a certain size and could not cost more than $1,000 to construct. The goal of the Sumobot Challenge was to push other robots outside of a ring, like in sumo wrestling.
