AfroBots at Scifest Africa

Report by Debbie Potgieter & Minette van der Walt

Switches, circuits and clever engineering, Scifest hosts the annual Afrobot competition in Grahamstwon; a platform which could possibly be the practical solution to the maths and science mark woes of matric students.
On the day of the competition after several robot battles, the final consists of a team from Graham College, Lando and team Floppy, two brothers from Somerset East. Brothers Joshua and Gideon Taljard walked home with first place after their robot, made out of old motors and floppy disks held together by cable ties and glue, stole the victory from robot Lando. Floppy had the advantage of a fully rotatable arm capable of rotating the dice to any number they so wished. This competition is testament to the fact that robotics is a fun and educational way to stimulate young scientists’ minds.