Parker School Robotics Competes in Japan

Parker School’s Robotics Club recently competed on the world stage at the World Robot Summit 2018 held in Tokyo, Japan.

Freshmen Del Jordan, Logan Kidani, and faculty member Brent Takenouchi represented the school during the exciting five-day competition. The World Robot Summit (WRS) included two parts: the World Robot Challenge (WRC), a robot competition in which teams competed in four categories where the use of robots is highly expected; and the World Robot Expo (WRE), an exhibition that features examples of applied robotics to the world.

Parker School Robotics Club recently competed at the World Robot Summit 2018 in Tokyo Japan. (L-R) Brent Takenuchi, Logan Kidani and Del Jordan. Courtesy photo.

Parker’s team, named “Invincibull Robotics” after the school’s bull mascot, participated in the Junior Home Robot Challenge category.  In this challenge, teams were tasked with creating an innovative idea for the use of a robot at home, and then realize the idea by developing and programing a robot they built.

“In addition to looking at how their robot could help the visually impaired around a home, the students also collaborated with teams from Japan and Australia to create a demonstration of a robot detecting and cornering a home intruder,” said Parker’s Educational Technology Specialist and Design Lab Coordinator Takenouchi.

The “Invincibulls” competed against 14 teams from around the world including Japan, Australia, Taiwan, Philippines and two schools from Hawai‘i.

“The theme, ‘Robotics for Happiness,’ complemented the trip perfectly,” said Takenouchi. “Students were able to experience different cultures, observe development in robotics, and connect the two to solve problems in our daily lives.”

This is the second year of Parker School’s Robotics Club at the upper school level.  Middle school students can participate in Tech Club, which encourages interaction with various technologies including robotics, video game programing and creating in the school’s design lab; and “Little Techies” is available for lower school students as a fun introduction to robotics and coding.