Far North schools take top three spots in Aquabots underwater robot final

Oromāhoe School students Andrew Phillips-Harris, Aimee Archer, Kyla Sarsaba, Savannah Collinson and Lachlan Vesey - Team Olympic - have won the Te Tai Tokerau Aquabots competition, earning themselves a place at the USA International SeaPerch Finals at the University of Maryland next June.

An innovative and unique mechanical tilt mechanism on their vertical motor has seen a team from Oromāhoe School take out first place in the Te Tai Tokerau Aquabots final.

And the first three teams all get the chance to represent the country in the international Aquabots final in the US next year.

The team - Andrew Phillips-Harris, Aimee Archer, Kyla Sarsaba, Savannah Collinson and Lachlan Vesey, known as Team Olympic - took first place in the Aquabots regional final held at the Kawakawa Community Swimming Pool last week.

And with the win comes a place at the USA International SeaPerch Finals at the University of Maryland in June 2024. The second and third placegetters in the competition also earn the right to go to the international final in the US where teams from around the world will do underwater battle with their Aquabots.

Te Kura Reo Rua o Motatau's Taikirau team of Aumaarire Prime, Zacchaeus Tua, and Christina Brown won second place in the Te Tai Tokerau Aquabots final last week.

Second place in the final went to Te Kura Reo Rua o Motatau’s Taikirau team of Aumaarire Prime, Zacchaeus Tua, and Christina Brown, who were given a rousing haka by their schoolmates.

Third place also went to an Oromāhoe School team, the Taniwhas - Zara Field, Elise Archer, Christiana Stott, TJ Norman, and Taylor Bergman.

These three teams emerged as winners from over 45 teams across Te Tokerau Tai who competed in the competition supported and run by He iwi Kotahi Tatou trust from Moerewa throughout 2023.

Team Olympic also took out the Most Creative Engineering award.

“You can’t have innovation without creativity and this [award] is to encourage the application of creative thinking in science and engineering,” said Creative Northland general manager Olivia Garelja.

Third place in the Te Tai Tokerau Aquabots final went to Oromāhoe School team The Taniwhas - Zara Field, Elise Archer, Christiana Stott, TJ Norman and Taylor Bergman.

The Most Creative Engineering award was hard fought between Motatau and two Oromāhoe teams.

Motatau Manu Koroki had used 3D printing to reposition their motors which judge and retired engineer Rudi Valkman said: “The 3D printed mounting of the axial thruster motors was very clever.”

Another judge, Darroch George-Bodle, who has represented New Zealand twice at the international competition, pointed to the use of 3D printing by Oromāhoe Taniwhas to develop nose-cones for their motors, build brackets for their leads and internalised their buoyancy.

But it was Team Olympic that took out the award with a mechanical tilt mechanism that allowed for their vertical motor to tilt through 90 degrees when the machine was moving forward but to revert to a vertical position for going up and down.

“I have never seen anything like it,’’ George-Bodle said of the innovative approach.

Other notable winners were Kamo Intermediate team Three Musketeers - Abigail Macready, Maddy Farrier and Shilohl Moore-Boyle - who won the best Technical Design Report. Their five-page engineering report on the design and building of their Aquabot was described by one judge as “couldn’t be better”.

The finals day was run by Karmelia Briggs, the pool courses managed by Chris Mahanga, scorekeeper Christine Harrison and Nanny Pam running the award ceremony, all of He Iwi Trust with the support of Yon Ankersmit from Creative Northland.

There was a panel of local and international judges judging on the day and remotely the weekend before. The competition will run again in 2024.

“This is just wonderful. We must do it again next year,’’ Debbie Davis of He Iwi Trust said.

Aquabots organiser Gareth Bodle said the programme has been an outstanding success and he expects more schools to come on board across the region in 2024.

■ What is Aquabots?

Aquabots is the first underwater robotics programme for school-aged children in New Zealand. In this innovative programme, school-aged children form teams to build an underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle then compete in New Zealand-themed challenges.

Students learn engineering concepts and hone skills in problem solving, teamwork, scientific communication and technical applications.

Building an Aquabot teaches basic skills in design and encourages students to explore naval architecture and marine and ocean engineering principles. It also teaches basic science, electrical concepts, tool safety and technical procedures. Each year the theme of the programme is changed to reflect what is going on in New Zealand and/or the world.